Ice and the Doctor
by Interface
Summary: The Doctor lands in Arendelle only to discover an extraordinary runaway Queen with extraordinary powers. AU
1. Chapter 1: The Encounter

**Chapter 1: The Encounter**

The Doctor peered at the monitor, gripping tightly onto its hand rail. Bizarre as it was the Tardis had landed, yet it was still moving. The ground beneath his feet was rocky and uncertain. He managed to quickly tighten his bow tie before beginning the pain staking task of staggering to the doors.

"Extraordinary," he mumbled falling into the hat stand that stood proudly in the corner. Snatching at the door latch he finally found his feet and pulled the door open in one swift movement. The cold that struck him was unreal, it chilled him to the core, to where his beating hearts went into shock overdrive. Everything was icy, without fear or caution he stuck his heel out and dug it hard into the glassy floor. A small groove appeared as his force slowed the Tardis from its skidding. Without leaving his sanctuary the Doctor put his hand down to touch the ice. He licked the droplets that he'd caused to melt.

"Completely pure. Brilliant" The Doctor, holding tightly to the Tardis frame, put one cautious boot onto the ice then the other.

"Hey!" A voice yelled. The Doctor jumped, feet slipping from underneath him, he snapped the door shut in his effort to regain his balance. Above his head a snowball like projectile hit the Tardis doors. Getting up again the Doctor shook them for entry but the odd projectile had sealed them with an icy patch. The Doctor, unable to help his curiosity in his time of siege immediately licked the barrier.

"Amazing" he pondered as his legs slipped from under him once again as another attack hit the already sealed doors. His head smacked hard against the shiny floor and the dull ache that proceeded hindered his vision slightly.

That was when he noticed that everything around him was made of ice. The high ceiling, the pillars, the walls, the windows, the delicate chandelier. He scrambled behind the cover of his Tardis as another ice blast hit where he'd just been laying.

"Don't shoot!" He yelled, daring to peer around the corner a final blast hit the time machine throwing a puff of snow over the Doctor. He blinked the specks out of his eyes and blew out harshly, "Will you cut that out?! I'm not armed! Look!" He raised his hands over his head and slid himself out of cover. He was confronted by a beautiful blonde, no more than 20 years old, her big blue eyes were wide. She held a hand outstretched towards him, but not to aid him. The Doctor continued to slide his feet in her direction. "I'm friendly," he reassured her.

"Don't come any closer" she warned.

"I swear I'm friendly"

The Doctor soon realised where the ice blasts had come from as she launched one from her fingertips to freeze his feet to the floor. He looked down at his encased boots. "Oh that is very not good," he looked up and offered her an apologetic smile, "I'd love to stay prisoner in this but I don't have the energy to regrow _two_ feet if these ones become frost bitten. So you'll have to excuse me"  
He withdrew from his tweed jacket his sonic screwdriver, took aim, and in a surge of sonic power blasted the ice block into pieces. He beamed once more, tossed the device up in the air, caught it and pocketed it, "Now then, shall we have a chat? Nice cup of tea?"

She stood frozen, like a statue.

"Erm, this is a great ice palace you've got here, you built it yourself?" The Doctor shielded his mouth with his hands and blew out in an attempt to warm up, "No heating? My ship is warm inside. Well, if you'd let me open it?" He gently pulled the screwdriver from his top pocket again. With the blonde's silent permission he shot a blast at the ice lock. It burst into dust and obediently the door swung open, "I'm the Doctor by the way, you are?"

She continued to keep her cool and stared almost frostily at him.

"I didn't mean to land in your palace, my radar didn't show a structure here, but if the entire thing is made of ice then my ship wouldn't have seen it anyway, you're sort of, invisible, up here" Taking her hint finally he nodded briefly and turned to enter the Tardis.

"Elsa" she said quickly tucking her hand away from its outstretched position. The Doctor turned slowly, finally she seemed to melt.

"Well then, Elsa, tell me, how did you come to be up here?"

It didn't take too long for the Doctor to unravel the crystalline mystery of Elsa. He sat in the open doorway of the Tardis, legs outstretched, with the warmth of the Tardis to his back. She preferred to sit cross legged opposite him on the ice, seemingly shooting ice from your hands also meant that you couldn't feel the harsh temperatures.

"... So you just ran?" The Doctor folded his arms looking only mildly concerned.

"They think I'm a monster, and Doctor, they're right"

"No Elsa, no, no, no. You're special don't you see? You were born with this, it's a gift, a very special gift. Look at what you've done here, you can harness it, do beautiful, creative things"

"My people live in fear of me Doctor, an eternal winter is here and I don't know how to undo all that I've done"

"An eternal winter?" He shook his head in complete misunderstanding.

"I've frozen the kingdom Doctor, and I don't know how to fix it, I don't know how to thaw out the ice I create"

"Arendelle is Frozen?"

"To the core"

"You've had this talent since birth and you never worked out how to thaw out the ice?"

Elsa shook her head sadly. The Doctor looked at her in bemusement, "Help me out Elsa, how did you control it before, well before this?" He waved his hand to indicate the ice palace surrounding them. Without a word Elsa showed him the gloves she'd worn for almost every single day of her youth.

"Oh, well now, that makes sense. And you can't freeze anything with them on?" Again the runaway Queen shook her head, "Interesting, and do you feel anything in particular when you, you know, freeze things? Hate? Anger?" He watched her expression carefully, "Fear?" He grabbed her bare hand quickly, his whole hand froze instantly. Elsa pulled away sharply before the ice could creep further up the Doctor's forearm. He winced and examined his iced hand.

"I didn't mean to, goodness, you're a mad man" Elsa tugged her gloves on hurriedly not wanting this crazy Doctor to try any other crazy things with her uncontrollable powers. He tapped at his frozen hand and once again pulled out his sonic screwdriver. He took readings from almost every inch, upon further inspection he realised that it was in fact still creeping up his arm, without Elsa's input.

"Yes!" He cried wasting no time in attempting to break up the ice as he'd done before with the sonic blast, "I'm definitely a mad man," he frowned slightly when the ice didn't break apart. Thankfully it no longer continued creeping up his forearm. The Doctor looked up suddenly to Elsa, "You've literally turned my hand to ice, every molecule, every single one"

"I'm sorry," she pleaded, "I'm sorry"

The Doctor turned his frozen hand over, "I've never been frozen before, it's pretty cool" The Doctor chuckled at his own joke, until he realised that Elsa was anything but amused, "Oh Elsa, don't worry, I've been through worse things, trust me"

He stood up and looked around the ice palace, now darkened with the setting of the sun. The escaped Queen looked completely miserable. The Doctor thumbed with his good hand towards the Tardis interior, "My home is quite different to yours, I'll show you?"

With only a small glance around her lonely, temporary palace, Elsa agreed to follow him inside the Tardis.

Elsa's eyes lit up as her gaze landed on the spectacular interior, "It's so..."

"I know," the Doctor beamed.

"It's very warm too," Elsa admitted. The Doctor saw the tiniest bead of sweat forming on her forehead. His eyebrows furrowed very slightly before he typed a hurried command into the console to lower the temperature.

"When you were growing up," the Doctor leant back against the console unit, "How did you find the summers?"

"Oh I never left my room growing up Doctor," Elsa clasped her gloved hands together in front of her, "I only saw summer from the window"

"Why didn't you go outside?"

"Protection"

"No one would have hurt you it makes no..."

"Their protection, from me" The Doctor's puzzled stared forced her to continue, "I froze my sister's head when we were little, by accident. The magic I produce was removed from her, along with the memory of my powers. So I had to stay away, I can't control it, it was too dangerous. If someone's heart were to become frozen, then that's it. It's a death sentence"

"I think it's safe to say that the gloves are only a temporary measure then," the Doctor pulled the Tardis screen towards him, "Full scan," he instructed. Immediately an image of Elsa appear with a bizarre swirl of Gallifreyan data surrounding her, "We'll have to think of something more permanent so that you can go home to your sister and your kingdom without accidently freezing everyone"

"Anna won't miss me. I was horrible to her. So horrible" Elsa hugged herself despite finding no comfort in it, "it's better that I stay away"

"Hey, I'm sure she's more concerned about you going home safe than a little argument," The Doctor put his glasses on to examine the screen, "You're very interesting Elsa. The Tardis can't detect anything different in you," he removed his glasses, "Does anyone know about this power you have?"

"The trolls," Elsa replied calmly.

The Doctor couldn't help but giggle, "Trolls?" he chuckled trying hard not to belly laugh. Elsa frowned at him, all trust gained with him crumbled instantly and the Doctor sensed it, "I'm sorry Elsa," he pleaded as she turned to the door, "It's been a long time since I've encountered trolls" The Snow Queen ignored his pleas and slammed the Tardis door shut behind her. He hurried to catch her, and burst out into the iced ballroom. The Queen was stood frozen looking up at the high ceiling. The Doctor followed her line of vision and saw that the chandelier was visibly shaking, ice crystals fell from it cracking the delicately crafted floor. Elsa stole a glance at the Doctor at her cost as the chandelier detached and hurtled towards her. The Doctor ran as fast as he could on the slippery floor and just managed to throw himself at the Queen in time to cause them both to land and slide away from the crashing decoration. He shielded her face with his jacket as they were engulfed in sharp ice shards. When the ice cloud settled the Queen lay beneath him a look of fear radiated from her deep blue eyes. The Doctor carefully stood, took her gloved hand and lifted her up close to him.

"I think we're under attack," he uttered calmly withdrawing his sonic screwdriver.


	2. Chapter 2: Under Siege

**Chapter 2: Under siege**

The Doctor held the shaken Queen Elsa close to him, with his sonic drawn he tried to identify the direction that the apparent siege was coming from. His instinct told him to get both of them to higher ground, however the fragile ice structure put him off moving from the spot he was in. That said, Elsa was the one who could create the ice. He looked down at her calmly.

"Elsa," he whispered, "We need to move from here, where's safe?"

"Follow me"

The Doctor followed the Queen up the spiral staircase protecting her back from any rush of attackers. At the top they crouched low, eyes on the main doors. The Doctor noticed that Elsa had removed her gloves and that the ice of the railing was thickening under her frosty grip.

"It's okay," he told her quietly, "You need to keep calm" She pointedly looked down at his frozen hand, "This? This is nothing," he smiled at her warmly, "I'll help you to learn how to thaw ice. Right now though your ice power may be useful" The magnificent front doors began to crack under the pressure being exerted on them.

"What are we going to do?"

"You've got ice powers, what do you think we're going to do?"

"Doctor I can't…"

"Elsa, it's you or them. Think now, thaw later. There's going to be no option soon, whoever they are, they're almost through the door. In case you hadn't noticed they didn't exactly ring the doorbell did they?"

Elsa bit her lip and closed her eyes, how had it come to this? A loud crash brought her back, the door was broken down. First through the doorway, sword drawn, was Prince Hans of the Southern Isles. A small army of men followed him, all had weapons out.

"It's Hans," Elsa breathed a sigh of relief, at least it wasn't someone intent on hurting her, more like a rescue party sent by her sister.

"Who's Hans?"

"He's from one of our trading kingdoms. He proposed to Anna last night, they've only just met, it's, creepy. He's harmless enough though, I think"

"Queen Elsa!" Hans called out.

"Do you trust him?" the Doctor interrupted her before she could respond to the Princes' calls.

"I don't know…" She stood up tall.

"Up there!" a voice yelled.

"Queen Elsa, we've come to get you!" The Doctor rose up at her side, "Your majesty are you safe?"

"Yes, I'm safe"

"Is there anyone else here?"

"No, there's only the two of us"

"Then get her!" Hans ordered brandishing his sword up at the pair. An arrow was shot at the Queen from another member of the army. The Doctor swiftly defended the Queen, using his iced hand to deflect the arrow.

"Well that escalated quickly," he mused tugging her away from view. The clatter of armour and swords hitting ice could now be heard storming up the staircase. The pair ran through Elsa's unused tower top room, skidding to a halt on the large rounded balcony. The Doctor peered down of the side of the mountain, he couldn't see the bottom for the mist below them. He looked to Elsa, her terrified eyes told him everything. He turned back towards the palace and the doors that led back inside, he forced Elsa to stand behind him and with his remaining hand he held his sonic screwdriver out.

"Doctor, what are you going to do?"

"I'll do a thing," he replied casually adjusting his grip on his screwdriver.

"What does that mean?"

"It means I'm not really sure yet, but something will work out, well, I hope it works out. It usually works out. Don't worry, Elsa, I won't let them harm you" He looked over his shoulder at her, "I promise"

Hans emerged onto the balcony, "Shacked up in your palace while your kingdom dies. Some Queen you are" The Doctor shifted his stance to keep her fully protected, his hair ruffled wildly as the winds rose in strength. The rest of the group had made it into the room behind Hans. The Doctor continued to shield Elsa as he skilfully flicked his sonic in Hans' direction, the doors slammed shut behind the Prince blocking the three of them off from the rest of the modest army. Muffled cries of outrage could just about be heard over the raging wind with powerful blows landing on the doors. Hans growled as he started towards the Doctor. With his abnormally resilient ice hand the Doctor, to his surprise, knocked Hans' sword clean out of his grip. The pair proceeded to clash in front of the horrified Queen, she stretched her hand out, before quickly withdrawing it, she couldn't risk hitting the Doctor. The two men locked grips, each leering into each others face, teeth bared in fury.

"Defending a monster," Hans sneered, "How blind you must be"

"I don't believe in monsters"

"Oh she's a monster. Arendelle wants her head. And I'll give it to them"

The Doctor brought the sonic up to temporarily blind Hans with a burst of green light. He freed himself from the Princes grip and rushed to Elsa, "There's only one way down," he told her. The balcony doors thundered against the onslaught the army was delivering to them, "You need to form a staircase, a slide, anything, to get you to safety"

"What about you?"

"I'll be right behind you," Another roar of the doors' failing resistance made the Doctor grimace. Hans was slowly regaining his vision, "Time is running out," He guided her to the balcony edge, "You created this palace, you can do this. To be safe"

"That's right Elsa, run away. Run from your responsibilities, run from all the pain and hurt you've caused the whole kingdom," Hans snatched his sword up, "Run from Anna. Poor sweet Anna. I'll tell her, how you fled, leaving her to pay for _your_ crimes; with her life"

"Anna? Where is she?"

"She's awaiting her sentence, in the dungeons"

"No. No," Elsa stammered, "Anna didn't know anything about this, she's done nothing wrong!"

"I'll be sure to tell her that when she meets the gallows at dawn"

"Don't listen to him," the Doctor warned.

"Anna is my sister, Doctor, I can't let her die for my curse"

"She won't die"

"She will" Hans moved further towards them.

"No!" Elsa cried firing a blast at him. It missed him only to hit the doors and reinforce them with another layer of ice. Hans lunged for the Doctor, and without thought for the consequences Elsa tried desperately to hit the swords' blade, only to instead fire a harsh blast at the Doctor's chest. He was thrown out of the way leaving Hans struggling to pull his blade from where it had stuck fast in the ice. The Doctor scrambled to his feet, ushering a hysterical Elsa to the balcony edge once more. He forced her to climb the railing, taking a large step up himself.

"Elsa, Elsa," the Doctor soothed, "Jump, now!" He grabbed her flailing arm and leapt with her blindly down into the mist below them. She ran a smooth slide from the tip of the balcony rail the entire way down, as they slid the Doctor broke the ice into crystals behind them with an outstretched sonic, preventing Hans from following them.

It didn't take very long but soon the pair landed in thick dense snow. Gasping for their lives.

The Doctor lay on his back, the snow soaking through his clothes. He gripped his chest, cringing and crying out in agony.

"Doctor!" Elsa rushed to him falling to her knees beside him, "Oh Doctor! Doctor! I'm sorry! I've frozen your heart! Doctor I didn't mean to!"

"Two," he gasped.

"What?"

"I've, got two, hearts"

"What do you mean you've got two hearts?!"

"I'm not, human," the Doctor struggled to sit up, "you only hit one, god how do you manage? One heart, not good"

Elsa stared down at him utterly confused and horrified by the obvious pain she'd caused him.

"Doctor, two hearts, I don't know what's going to happen to you now"

The Doctor used her shoulder to help him up, "Neither do I. But we can't stay here. We've got to get off this mountain," he grimaced and gripped at his chest again, "I think it's spreading. We have to be quick"

With Queen Elsa as support, the pair began wading through the deep snow towards Arendelle. Behind them an explosion rang out, the Ice Palace fell, shattering and crumbling down the side of the North mountain face.

"Don't look back," the Doctor instructed, "I never do"


	3. Chapter 3: Flee the Mountain

**Chapter 3: Flee the Mountain**

The snow storm had calmed with Elsa's mood, the thick snow muffled all sound in the forest. The scene if not for the blistering cold, was quite serene, like a postcard. They'd struggled for hours down towards Arendelle through the knee deep snow. They spent many silent minutes plodding on before the mild mannered Queen broke the silence.

"So where are you from Doctor?"

"From a planet very far away," he replied holding a branch out of the way for her.

"Does it have a name?"

The Doctor stopped walking, "Yes, Gallifrey"

"How come you're here and not there?"

"It's gone, it's all gone. The people are gone, the planet is gone"

"Except for you?"

He nodded through the smallest of frowns, "Except for me," he sighed heavily.

"It sounds lonely," Elsa began to wade once more through the snow.

"It is," the Doctor resumed the pace beside her.

"Whatever the reason Doctor, I'm grateful that you came. Everything has fallen apart, Arendelle so desperately needed you, I, needed you"

The Doctor smiled bashfully, "I could probably have helped out better a few days sooner, then things may not have escalated to all this. I always get my timings wrong," he shook his head, "It's the curse of the time lord"

"Oh Doctor!" Elsa froze suddenly. The Doctor nearly fell over at her outburst, "Your blue box!"

"The Tardis," the Doctor waved his hand casually, "She'll find me when I need her. The Tardis doesn't go to where I want her to go. She goes to where she needs to be"

This seemed to satisfy the Queen, anything seemed reasonable when the Doctor said it, "Oops!" She stumbled as she tripped in a covered hole beneath the blanket of snow. The Doctor caught her swiftly.

"I've got you," The force of his catch brought them close together, so close that Elsa could see the shimmer of the ice the Doctor was breathing out due to his injury. They stared at one another for a second too long, "Are you okay?"

"Yes," she breathed. They could feel themselves leaning towards each other. Distant howling stopped them instantly.

"Wolves"

The sound of voices began to rise above the howls and the wind. The Doctor looked quickly to Elsa, "Sounds like our friends" He took her hand and led her towards the cover of dense trees and bushes. There they huddled together behind a thick tree trunk. The Doctor shut his eyes tightly hoping that his breathing wasn't too loud while the Queen clung to his jacket eyes staring at the ground, tense, listening for any movement close by.

"Quickly men! The people will soon learn of the Queen's fate. The gallows will claim their prisoner as the sun rises!"

The Doctor pressed a finger slowly to his lips. The deep padding of horse's hooves paraded past barely a few meters to their backs. The Doctor stole a glance around the tree to see the backs of several men on horseback, including Prince Hans heading through the dense forest back to Arendelle.

"What are you thinking? Elsa asked as she too moved to have a look at the small army that had come for her head.

"I'm thinking we really need a horse. I had a horse once. Well, it wasn't really mine, I sort of, borrowed it. Actually, we probably shouldn't let me have a horse, I'd probably lose it in the Tardis… Again"

The howling of the wolves suddenly seemed very close by.

"I think we should try to find some shelter for now, I don't really want to be eaten by a wolf after surviving all this"

The Doctor nodded in agreement.

"The ice masons have cabins up here for when they harvest ice in the winter"

"It is winter"

"It's supposed to be summer though," Elsa led them on through the forest a little further in search of an ice mason's shelter.

* * *

The small shelter they'd been forced to hide in due to the wolf threat closing in around them wasn't ideal but the Doctor took the opportunity to begin lesson one of teaching Elsa how to thaw ice despite having little knowledge himself of the magic she possessed. He allowed her to practice on his hand first.

"Well, that's better than the last attempt," the Doctor chuckled seeing the tiniest of droplets rise from his frozen hand. Elsa groaned loudly, venting her frustration as she pulled her hand away again.

"I'll never master this," she complained slipping her glove back on.

"It takes time, like, learning the guitar, or circumnavigating a black hole"

Elsa frowned and let out a chuckle, "A what?" She laughed a little louder, "You talk in riddles Doctor" The Doctor merely smiled before a sharp stabbing pain reminded him of the threat on his life, "Ohh Doctor I'm sorry," Elsa had no idea how to comfort the dying time lord as he once again curled up in agony, all she could do was rub his back gently.

The pain, was excruciating. The Doctor grabbed at his chest as if he were about to tear his hearts clean out. He gritted his teeth tightly together, inside he was burning, it literally blinded him. He could feel one heart had been completely taken out of action by Elsa's power, the other, was slowly being consumed. When the pain subsided enough, and his vision returned, he stared up into her concerned blue eyes. Letting his head fall back against the floor with a thud he sighed. A slither of light grew in intensity and lined the side of his face, seeping in through the gaps in the wooden walls. The sound of a sled skidding by caused the Queen to realise the new day had arrived.

"It's dawn," Elsa whispered. She helped the injured time lord to his feet and pushed the door of the shed open. The brilliant light of dawn landed on them, warming them after their night in the cold shelter. In the distance Arendelle was visible, everything was covered in ice and snow, it shimmered in the sunlight, yet, due to Elsa's magic, it refused to melt, "We'll never make it to Anna in time"

"Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey," the Doctor mumbled taking his arm from around Elsa's shoulders. He staggered a few feet away from her, "Come on," he beckoned, "Come here" Elsa joined him, not even a few feet over from their shelter was a straight run down the steep mountain, it led to not even half a mile from the entrance to the city. There were already a single set of sled tracks and obvious animal footprints laid down fresh, "I can think, of only one way to get down the mountain in this thick snow" He grinned at the Queen, raising his eyebrows in silent cheeky encouragement.

"You've been the worst influence on me since I discovered these powers," Elsa mumbled glancing shyly at him as she finished forming the second of two circular sleds.

"What's the point in having cool powers if you don't use them to help you," the Doctor sat squarely in the middle of the disk, "Gahhh," he cried as the cold seeped through his trousers. Elsa couldn't help but laugh loudly as she climbed on her own.

"How do we steer?" She puzzled grabbing the edges and rocking side to side, "Our weight maybe? What do you think Doctor?" Beside her the Doctor was gone. She followed the trail of indented snow with her gaze to see the crazy man already on his way to Arendelle.

"Like this!" He yelled, "Woo!"

Elsa paused for a moment, her eyes set on her kingdom. Her whole life she'd been reserved and quiet. Hidden away from the glorious world around her. Never before had she been up the North Mountain, never before had she watched the sun gently kiss her kingdom as it rose. She'd wasted time, time for herself, time for her people, time for her sister Anna, whom daily had tapped on her bedroom door, begging for her to emerge. Well now time pivoted on her, on the right here, on the right now; and she was _not_ going to let it pass her by. Anna's life depended on it. A twiggy hand was just inches away from tapping the focused Queen on her shoulder when she decided to take the plunge and pushed forward after the Doctor.

The rush was like nothing Elsa had ever felt before, if it weren't for the threat on her sister's life, she was sure that she was actually enjoying her powers again. The cold air whistled past her, the snow rushed towards her, and Arendelle grow closer, it was thrilling. It reminded her of playing in the palace with Anna, freezing the entire ballroom, building snowmen and sliding down fluffy snow hills. Everything had been fun, every day had been an adventure; even if it was mostly to entertain her fun loving little sister.

At the bottom the Doctor readied himself to bring Elsa to a stop to save her from crashing. He offered his hand to her which she caught, she spun around him resulting in the pair falling over into the soft deep snow belly laughing. The sled collided with a tree and shattered. The Doctor couldn't help but laugh despite the piercing pain growing in his chest. It was the most fun he'd had in years, he suspected it was the same for Queen Elsa. He balled up a handful of snow a launched it playfully at her. In response she created a much larger snowball and tossed it delicately in his direction. Instead of hitting him, Elsa burst it above his head coating him in fluffy flakes of snow. The Doctor grinned widely; despite everything; his frozen hand and icy heart, he was happy to have landed up the North Mountain in Elsa's Ice Palace.

Distant cheers stopped their playful moment, they sat upright in the snow, their eyes were fixed on the frosty spire of the Arendelle palace.

"Anna," Elsa breathed, "We have to hurry"


	4. Chapter 4: Saving Anna

**Chapter 4: Saving Anna**

The Doctor scrambled after the agile Queen towards the frozen kingdom. They hurtled towards the city entrance. At the stables a lone figure was securing his sled to a fence, beside him stood a large reindeer chewing happily on a carrot. The Doctor's stomach gurgled with hunger when he saw the orange vegetable, "I knew I should have stopped for a bite to eat," he grumbled, "Whoa!" His leg caught in the rope the stranger was using to tie up the sled. The Doctor face planted the ground.

"Guy, are you alright?" The Doctor felt himself get dragged to his feet. The blonde stranger looked him with a suspicious stare.

"Uh," the Doctor brushed the snow from his hair, "Yeah, I'm alright, I…"

"Doctor quickly! It's starting!" Elsa back tracked to aid him.

"Queen Elsa?" the curious man snatched his hat off quickly and did the most awkward bow the Doctor had ever seen. He rolled his eyes and attempted to brush off more snow from his shoulder, "Guy, uh, you know that your hand is iced up?"

The Doctor waved it in front of his face, growing a little tired of this odd man stating the obvious with every sentence, "Yeah, I know"

"You're the ice mason for Arendelle," Elsa leaned in for a better look at the blocks of ice tied to the sled.

"I'm Kristoff, your majesty it's an honour it really is," he bowed again much to the Doctor's amusement, "Business is a little slow at the moment due to the conditions but I'm sure that…"

Loud cheering drew the adventurous pair's attention back to their mission, "I'm sorry about the winter. I have to go, I have to stop the execution," Elsa apologised to the stunned Kristoff as they stepped away from the conversation towards the city. Kristoff watched them running towards to the city. Something in the back of his mind recalled what the group of men had been talking about when he'd been up the North Mountain the previous night.

* * *

He'd been hauling ice back to Arendelle, not that it needed it, but old habits died hard in Kristoff's world. On the trail he'd bumped into a small gathering of men. They were arguing and shouting amongst themselves.

"Well is she dead or isn't she?!"

"Who could survive that jump?" The man responding was wearing royal dress, "She's dead. And when we return to Arendelle the sister will be hung at dawn and you, my friends, will join me in ruling this kingdom and all its trade"

"We could have lived it up in there you know," another group member thumbed up to the large pile of shattered ice that had managed to remain atop the mountain, "I don't know why you had to destroy it"

"What's the point in being up here when _order_ needs to be kept down _there_?!" the royal half-screamed at the quivering man and pointed a shaking finger angrily at Arendelle.

"Your highness"

"What!?"

"What shall we do with the box? We don't have the resources to pull it"

Hans turned to look at the large blue box they'd heaved down the first face of the mountain. It hummed delicately sat in the thick snow, the lights from the windows cast a blue haze upon all around it. That's when Kristoff was suddenly noticed by the group.

"You there! Ice carrier! Come here and serve the crown for once in your life" Hans ordered.

Kristoff glanced at an unimpressed Sven, his faithful reindeer, before approaching the group.

"This sled might just accommodate the box Prince Hans," a servicemen declared walking around the load Kristoff was carrying, "We'll just stack the ice on one side to make room, come on lads"

Kristoff stood silently in front of Hans while the men did their alterations and added the box to his haul, "When you reach Arendelle, I want this hidden. No one must know of its existence until I decide, is that clear ice carrier?"

"Where do I put…"

"I don't care where you put it as long as it's hidden! Now go, leave us, dawn approaches"

* * *

"Wait!" Kristoff yelled after the pair. The Doctor skidded to a halt and looked back at the ice mason. Elsa also paused, waiting patiently at the city's edge. Kristoff beckoned the Time Lord over to the stables and after unhooking the rope that secured it shut, opened the doors for the Doctor to see inside. Stood there amongst the hay, in all its glory, was the Tardis.

"Haha! I've got a job for you Kristoff," the Doctor beamed admiring his faithful time machine, "Listen carefully…"

* * *

The renegade pair rushed through the deserted streets to the central marketplace. There hadn't been an execution for as long as Elsa could remember, but everyone knew where the gallows stood - and that was in the open marketplace for everyone to see. As they emerged at the edge of the gathering the Doctor grabbed Elsa's arm and pulled her back as she tried to rush into the crowd. He pulled her into a tight embrace, stood at the gallows, hooded, rope ready around her neck and visibly shaking, was Princess Anna.

"Anna!" Elsa cried into the Doctor's shirt, "No!"

"Stay calm, I'll get her out of this, Elsa, don't attract any attention to yourself. I swear I'll get her out," the Doctor gasped suddenly for breath and dropped to his knees, his hand again gripping his chest tightly.

"Doctor you're dying, you can't save her, you can't do this"

"Elsa," the Doctor found the strength to shakily stand, "I'm going to save your sister, just, trust me"

He turned towards the crowd, sonic in hand held loosely at his side. Elsa was on edge, hands gripping her platinum hair, pure adrenaline pulsing through her, "Doctor" She tugged him back into a tight embrace and laid a gentle kiss on his cheek. The Doctor simply smiled.

"Stay out of trouble" He disappeared into the crowd towards the terrified Princess Anna.  
Prince Hans stood on the gallows beside the Princess, he snatched the hood from over her revealing her terrified face.

"Arendelle! Too long you've played host, to monsters! Look at your city! An eternal winter is upon you! Fear for your wives! Fear for your children! Fear for your lives! A conspirator, stands before you! All along she knew of the sorcery! All along she allowed the Ice Queen to exist amongst you! And now your land is cursed!"

Anna stared out at the crowd, tears flooding her pink cheeks. All the while Hans riled up the citizens the Doctor pushed forward through the crowd, he kept his head down, and his frozen hand hidden the best he could. He reached the front of the crowd, under his folded arms he held his screwdriver and with slow steady pulses, aimed at the rope slung over the top of the gallows that ran all the way down to circle Anna's neck. As casually as he could he watched the rope begin to fray and break apart. He glanced down to a small child beside him staring up at the glowing light that kept flashing below the Doctors elbow. He gave a the child quick weak smile hoping his cover hadn't been blown, then glanced up again nervously to observe the work in progress.

"... How do we find Princess Anna of Arendelle!?"

"Guilty!" The crowd roared, "Guilty! Guilty! Guilty!

The Doctor couldn't help but roll his eyes at the verdict, "Everyone loves to point the finger," He grimaced as the pain in his chest began to slowly overwhelm him. He struggled to remain on his feet, feeling the icy grip taking hold of his second heart. Unable to withstand the pain, the Doctor fell to his knees, his screwdriver skittered across the ice towards the gallows. The disruption caught Hans' attention.

"You!" He cried. The urgency to execute Anna pulsed through him, and with the roar of the crowd he pulled the lever to release the trap door beneath the Princess. The Doctor rushed to the space beneath the platform, ignoring all pain. Anna screamed as she fell the rope snapped almost instantly unable to take her weight. The Doctor, graceful as ever, managed to get beneath the platform in time for Princess Anna to land squarely on top of him. The sudden impact knocked the wind right out of him.

"Oooft," he gasped.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry!" Anna leapt up the rope still swinging from her neck, "I didn't see you there! Gosh this is awkward, we're awkward, I mean, you're not awkward, I'm awkward, you're dreamy, wait what"

"Don't apologise, you have to run, go!" the Doctor removed the rope from her as quickly as possible and forced the confused Princess out into the marketplace. Anna immediately caught sight of her sister running towards her.

"Elsa! They said you were dead! Oh Elsa!"

The Doctor watched the reunion with a pained smile. He heard the metallic grinding of a sword behind him, it was Hans.

"Hans you Traitor!" The Doctor yelled, "Traitor!" He pointed mercilessly at the Prince. Hans was about to charge at the Doctor when he noticed the ice erupting from the center of the man's shirt. Elsa noticed the change happening all too late, she couldn't get to the Doctor, nor did she know how to help him. The Doctor, realising that his time was now done, simply resided to standing tall, proudly holding onto his braces, his eyes barely had time to tear up as he took a last deep breath before turning entirely into ice.

Everyone stared in disbelief, Elsa and Anna were frozen to the spot. Kristoff emerged from the crowd out of breath from his obvious rush to the gallows. He too stopped dead when he saw the Doctor completely transformed into ice. It was as if time had stopped, and all sound was but a distant memory. The only person able to move was Hans.

"By your leave then sir" He laughed sheathing his sword and retreating into the crowd.


	5. Chapter 5: The battle for Arendelle

**Chapter 5: The battle for Arendelle**

The Doctor was frozen. His glassy eyes looked beyond the horrified Elsa. For her the whole world became suddenly slow moving. Anna's muffled screams in protest at her saviour's misfortune were barely audible to the Ice Queen. Everything seemed so far away, her heart near stopped as Elsa finally recalled how to breathe. Anna was already at the Doctors side touching his ice cold face, "No!" She wailed helplessly, "Elsa you have to thaw him! You have to!" She turned sharply to her stunned sister, "Elsa!"

The Queen forced her shaking legs to carry her towards the frozen Time Lord. As she did she could just about see Hans fleeing through the crowd; Anna caught her arm swiftly before the distressed Queen could pursue him, "We can get him later," she nodded to the Doctor, "You have to save him. Elsa, Elsa look at me," she forced their eyes to meet, "He saved us didn't he? So save him"

"Anna," the Queen looked dismayed, lost, "I'd give up all my powers to undo everything. I never wanted this, I don't know how to thaw the ice"

Anna looked furious with her older sister, "How could you? How could you just give up like this? Did he just leave you up that mountain? Alone? Upset? Afraid? Well Elsa?"

Anna's words seemed to resonate within her. Elsa looked from the Doctor's frozen expression, to his floppy perfectly still hair and his neat little bow tie. She had been afraid, very afraid, that had melted away when he'd come to her aid. He'd made her feel comfortable with herself, confident even. He made her realise that she wasn't a monster to be locked away and feared, but something to be set free, and loved. She'd forged a good friendship with this mad man and felt something for him deep under the layers of her winter magic. She extended a finger cautiously to where she assumed at least one of his two hearts would be, and pressed gently against his stone cold solid shirt. She didn't want this to have been the last time she saw his goofy smile, or the last time she'd ever be so boldly led astray. She never wanted the laughing to end, or the sledding down mountains to ever stop. He'd been her saviour, her protector; for this moment in her life, he'd been her Doctor, and he was wonderful.

Anna inhaled suddenly seeing a rush of colour flood through the material from Elsa's fingertips. Kristoff stole a glance at Sven and swallowed hard, this was it. The softness returned to his shirt and the blue of his bow tie returned with shocking clarity. With the final ruffle of his hair restored the Doctor took a deep breath and stared down at Elsa. He took her face in his hands, mouth still dry from his frozen state, he simply smiled and pressed a firm kiss against her forehead.

"Good," he breathed with visibly frosty breath, "Brilliant"

Without pause Elsa hugged him tightly, but had to release him suddenly as she'd frozen his jacket in her excitement. The Doctor struggled out of the solid material, it dropped to the floor with a thud, "Princess Anna?"

"Anna is safe"

"And Hans?"

"He's on the run," Anna interrupted, "Should I alert the guards?"

"No," the Doctor grimaced, "Leave him to me" If there was one thing the Doctor was more than capable of it was dishing out creative non-lethal punishments. He'd once captured the blood siblings, he trapped the father in chains at the centre of a dwarf star, the mother he trapped in an event horizon of a collapsing galaxy, he cursed the brother as a scarecrow and bound the sister within a mirror, all for eternity. The Doctor knew better than anyone that living forever was the worst punishment in the world.

Elsa took hold of his arm. He lowered his gaze to see that her hand was bare, and he wasn't being frozen, "Hans is dangerous," she warned him, "The guards can bring him here for his sentence" She folded his sonic screwdriver into his palm gently, "You could get hurt"

"Just let me take care of him, I won't get hurt, I promise"

"Well I hope you can run fast then, he's got a head start on you" Anna folded her arms, disappointed that she didn't have a chance to call on the guards herself to bring back the worthless Prince Hans.

"Haha!" The Doctor laughed pointedly, "Can I run? I've been running my whole life, and I don't plan on stopping" With that he skated his first few steps before taking off running through the thick snow in pursuit of Hans.

Kristoff moved awkwardly towards the two sisters, "Queen Elsa," he tried to catch her attention but it was firmly on the Doctor's back as he skilfully dodged through the crowd, "Um, your majesty?" Anna tapped her older sister's arm, her eyes transfixed on the good looking ice mason.

"Oh, Kristoff," A surprised Elsa turned to greet him.

"I, uh, I found something of yours just outside of town. He insisted that he knew you personally"

"You found a something, and _he_ knows me personally? What?"

From behind Kristoff's leg a short rounded snowman emerged.

"Ahh! Olaf!" Anna shrieked as she launched herself happily at the shocked little snowman.

"Olaf?" Elsa shook her head in disbelief, "How, wait, what?"

"You created me!" the snowman beamed from Anna's hug of steel.

"I know. I remember, but, how are you…"

"Alive?"

"It's magical! Your powers must do more than you thought!" Anna practically sang as she continued to dote over her sister's favourite childhood snow creation, "Oh Elsa please can we keep him?! Please!?"

"Yeah Elsa can we keep me?" Olaf beamed as the Princess continued to cuddle him.

"This is great and everything, really it is," Kristoff interrupted, "But, what about that Prince guy? Are you gunna, you know, help that Doctor guy?"

"Oh Elsa what's the plan?" Anna turned again to her sister.

"We'll follow them, Hans is capable of anything, we have to go now the Doctor is unarmed"

"Kristoff?" Anna began in her sweetest pleading voice, "Would you take care of Olaf until we return? Keep him out of trouble?"

The Ice Mason and the happy snowman looked at each other. Kristoff wasn't exactly enthralled, Olaf on the other hand was already bouncing up and down with excitement looking up at him eagerly, "You owe me," he sighed finally, "A lot," he added as Anna planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!" She beamed.

The sisters hurried towards the courtyard and were greeted with their horses, Elsa's strong leadership took over, "Send a handful of men to ride alongside us, Prince Hans has escaped, he's dangerous, protect our people and..." A flash of green light at the harbour erupted. The sisters stared at each other, "Let's go!"

They rode furiously towards Arendelle's harbour. The wonder of Elsa's newly awakened ability to thaw was spreading through the land and the ships that had once been held in icy clutches were now free to bob gently in the calm waters surrounding the kingdom.

"Ohh!" Elsa cried. The Doctor and Hans came into view, Hans was thrashing his sword wildly at the Doctor while shuffling slowly towards his ship. The Doctor countered the blows with snappy movements of his sonic screwdriver forcing Hans to continue his retreat.

"I thought you said he was unarmed!" Anna was amazed by the tiny device that stood up so well to Hans' royal weapon.

"I did, that's not an offensive weapon," Elsa jumped down from her horse. The guards gathered at her side awaiting order.

"Your highness, what is your wish?"

Elsa was transfixed to the spot, watching the Doctor so valiantly defend her kingdom all the way up the boardwalk onto Hans' ship.

"They'll end up out to sea Elsa," Anna warned, "The rope is already unhooked, look!"

Without hesitation Elsa guided her ice power to the base of the ship, attaching it to the harbour wall with thick unbreakable ice.

The Doctor was furious, he glared at Hans as he deflected every blow. The disgraced Prince didn't seem to tire of attacking the Time Lord. Finally, as they were about to reach the ships wheel, the Doctor managed to disarm Hans. The sword flew through the air, sticking fast into the ice surrounding the ship. The Doctor approached the breathless Prince, his own deep breaths were just as ragged. He tugged his braces back on fully, though his dishevelled bow tie could not be so easily straightened out.

"You've committed treason," the Doctor lowered his sonic. Hans spat at the floor, then rushed to the edge of the ship to judge the drop. The Doctor continued his approach, "What's the penalty for treason these days Hans? Well, hanging I presume? It's a slow way to go Hans. Most uncomfortable, you definitely won't like it"

The Prince was growing more and more desperate. He climbed up onto the wooden rail. The wind blew up fiercely around him, he crouched low, holding on tightly and fixed his eyes on the immense drop to freedom. The Doctor's footsteps were close now; options were running out. He swiftly pulled out a concealed blade and launched it at the Doctor. The Time Lord barely had time to flinch as the blade stopped inches from his face, encased in ice. He glanced to where Elsa was still poised at top of the boardwalk her with winter magic swirling around. He barely breathed a thank you at her before launching himself at Hans, determined not to let him escape. As the pair fell overboard out of sight Elsa couldn't help but let out a pained scream. The ice below, she knew was unbreakable, and the drop too big to survive unscathed. She rushed to the railing gripping it tightly her eyes searched the ice below for the Doctor. Instead, the Doctor's Time Machine lay on its side, doors wide open facing up at her. In a sharp whirring noise the doors snapped shut and the Tardis morphed out of sight.

"Doctor!" She cried.

When Anna finally reached her sister she found her sat curled in a ball shuddering with heartfelt sobs, "Where are they? Elsa where are the Doctor and Hans?" When no reply came Anna simply held her sister as the tears flooded out. She couldn't remember exactly how long they stayed huddled on the deck of the disgraced Prince's ship, but it felt like eternity.


	6. Chapter 6: Aftermath

**Chapter 6: Aftermath**

Many weeks passed since the battle and Arendelle slowly regained some normality. All that remained of the Snow Queen's winter was an ice rink in the town for the citizens to use. Summer returned, all was glorious and merry, except within the walls of the Palace. Anna found herself free to come and go as she pleased, but the gates remained closed and Elsa remained hidden inside. Her upset had frozen the upper floors of the Palace, no one, neither the staff nor Anna, dared to venture up to see her anymore. Often people stole a glance up to the higher floors, wrapped in ice on the outside, and knew that the Queen was still grieving the loss of a good man, Arendelle's saviour.

Her room was a hostile winter, a blizzard swept furiously about between the four walls, the only item untouched by the ice and cold was the Doctor's jacket hung by the door, which he had shrugged off before he'd pursued Prince Hans. Every time Elsa looked at it she mourned his untimely leave from Arendelle all over again.

Anna had not taken the disappearance of the Doctor quite as hard as her sister and was content to keep up appearances around the Kingdom. She'd taken a particular liking to Kristoff the ice mason, he would often carve her small figurines out of ice knowing full well that they would last the seasons in the wintery castle. She joined him regularly on his trips up the North Mountain along with Olaf, they even ventured to view Elsa's fallen palace. Anna had begged her sister to rebuild it when they'd returned home, but Elsa had flatly refused. It saddened the young princess to see her sister so crushed and as selfish as it seemed, when she left on her trips with Kristoff she liked to leave her troubles behind the closed gates. The trio were currently riding his sled out of Arendelle to harvest the purest ice from the northern most part of the kingdom when a large blue box appeared out of thin air; it whirred and skittered to a halt on the road in front of them.

"What the..." Kristoff reached for his pick axe as he rose from his seat. The blue door opened inwards and out stepped none other than the Doctor.

"Oh my god," Anna couldn't believe what she was seeing, "Doctor is that you?"

Jacketless and clearly battle tired the Doctor tugged the door shut, swayed a little and smiled at Anna, "It's me," he confirmed. His hair was messy, his shirt was torn in places, and the frayed bow tie he wore hung limply from his collar.

"What happened to you? Where is Hans?"

"He wanted to a rule a Kingdom, so I gave him one. It's, complicated. Where is everyone? Where is Elsa?"

"She's," Anna hesitated, "She's at the palace. It's been weeks Doctor, where have you been?"

"Weeks?!" The Doctor tapped his watch, "Ohh no! Water damage! I completely lost track of time"

"Hop in, we'll take you back to the Palace" Kristoff took hold of the reins and guided Sven to turn the cart around. The Doctor stared with frank suspicion at the jolly snowman he was squashed up against, he buzzed him quickly with his screwdriver and read the reading.

"Hey I'm Olaf. I like warm hugs"

"Did Elsa build you?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah why?"

"Absolutely no reason," the Doctor tucked away his sonic into his pocket, "Shouldn't you have a nose?"

"Ohh I've always wanted a nose" The Doctor rumaged through the sacks on the back of the sled until he found the reindeers carrots.

"Hold still," he warned the little snowman, before stuffing it roughly into his face. Olaf grabbed at it, going cross-eyed as he admired it.

"Oh. I. Love it!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes and resided himself to the fact that his day quite probably could not get any stranger than a sleigh ride with a living snowman. The journey was bumpy yet swift, as they reached the palace the Doctor's hearts sank.

"But it's frozen," he shook his head, unable to comprehend why the thaw she'd unleashed had failed to work on the second floor of the palace.

"She's mourning you Doctor, she thinks you're dead"

The Doctor could only look on in dismay as they approached. When he entered the palace the true depth of Elsa's upset was clear. Ice flooded the staircase, jagged and unfinished, nothing like the wonderfully crafted palace he had landed in weeks ago. He stole a glance back at Anna and Kristoff, both of whom encouraged him to ascend the frozen stairs. He therefore ventured up the staircase alone, his footing was unsteady on the harsh ice causing him to slip a few times. Once at the summit it wasn't difficult to find Elsa's room, the ice was at its thickest there. With his sonic screwdriver and heavy hearts he resonated the ice surrounding the door handles and after a few long minutes he'd broken it off. He pushed his way inside, feeling the Queen's pained torment in the harsh blizzard that struck him. Laying on her frozen solid bed weeping into an equally frozen solid pillow, was Elsa. The Doctor struggled through the harsh conditions to her and perched himself on the bed beside her. He gently stroked her platinum hair. Elsa opened her eyes and almost burst into further tears when she saw him, "Tell me that it's really you"

"It's really me," he put her hand up against his cheek, "Got my timings wrong, like I always do"

The Queen hugged him tightly, so tightly that the Doctor feared that she may freeze him again. Instead the blizzard ceased and the ice retreated, he hugged her back and held her close until the wintery palace surrendered to the heat of summer. The pair pulled apart from their long embrace. Elsa, shy as she was, gently fixed some stray strands of the Doctors floppy fringe back into place. She couldn't help but smile, seeing him again melted her winter powers down to almost nothing.

"I thought something terrible may have happened to you, and when you didn't return I..." The Queen held back valiantly the sobs that were attempting to rise up to consume her again, "I'm just glad you're okay"

"Hey now," he soothed rekindling their embrace, "I'm always okay, I'm the king of okay"

"Doctor?" Elsa pulled back, looking him straight in the eye, "What happened to Hans?"

The Doctor smiled, "That's a long story," he pushed himself up onto the bed properly beside her, interlocked his fingers neatly behind his head and rested back against the soft pillows. Elsa gathered up her pillow hugging it tightly awaiting the Doctor's explanation, "It happened like this.."

* * *

The two fierce brawling men tumbled off the edge of the ship into the Doctor's clever time machine. Used to the sudden gravity change, the Doctor stood upright immediately and pulled the dematerialisation lever. Hans, adjusting much slower to the Tardis' internal gravity, staggered backwards and forwards, helpless, like a clumsy drunk.

"You're the devil!" He cried at the Doctor.

"You know, that, that might be a new one," the Doctor mused flicking the pinball machine on the console.

"What is this contraption?!"

"I wouldn't worry about that," the Doctor swung himself around the console panels with the handrail of the monitor, "I'd worry about your new kingdom"

Hans fell backwards onto the sofa, "You're taking me home?" He frowned at himself for a moment, "Why would you do that?"

The Doctor turned to face the disgraced Prince, "Because Hans, you're dangerous, I'm not allowing you to go anywhere near Arendelle again. And you're certainly not getting anywhere near the Queen and her sister for as long I've got a beat in my heart and breath in my lungs"

"Until she loses control and freezes you again, it's only a matter of time, and you know it"

The Doctor sighed, shook his head at Hans, "I've never met anyone who wasn't worth the risk. Elsa is no exception"

"How did you survive anyway? She froze your heart solid. I saw you turn to ice"

The time lord gripped the console tightly, "Ah yes, that," Who else better to share in his secret than a man he was sending across the universe never to be heard of again. The Doctor knew that the Queen could never know the truth, fear caused her powers to spiral out of control, if she thought for a moment that she'd caused his slow death, who knew how she'd react. He allowed Hans to see the full body scan he'd performed on himself. The Doctors right heart was still frozen. The screen spoke in a computerised female voice.

"Regeneration cycle, disabled"

"What does that even mean? Do you, do you have two hearts?" Hans had never heard of these space-age terms, nor had he seen someone with two hearts.

"I'm a time lord Hans, I don't die when I'm injured, my whole body changes. I get new everything, new face, the lot. But this," the Doctor pointed at the screen, "This is like poison to my system. This, has stopped my ability to regenerate. I'm still dying, but at human pace"

"So, you're saying that you're going to age and die, instead of regurgitating?"

"Regenerating," the Doctor corrected, "And yes. I've got one life left, this one," The Tardis rumbled to a halt. The Doctor raised his head, "Looks like this is your stop"

"No! They'll kill me for treason" Hans clung to the sofa like a cat, "We can get past this, you're a good man right? I promise to stay away, and you, you let me go free. How does that sound? Hm? Please?"

"Sorry," the Doctor frowned, "No second chances, I'm that kind of a man" He hauled the Prince out of the Tardis quite literally by the scruff of the neck, he shoved him out into the wilderness. It was almost pitch black, the ground was dry and uneven, Hans' white uniform now looked dirty and unkempt.

"This isn't home"

"It's your _new_ home," Around them many pairs of red eyes suddenly appeared gleaming through the darkness, "I promised them a leader the last time I was here. I've finally delivered on that promise. You see Hans I'm a man of my word, I said that I'd take you to a new kingdom, _not_ your old kingdom. Goodbye Hans"

"No! Doctor please! Doctor no! Don't leave me! Doctor I…!"

The Time Lord shut the door firmly, and snapped the safety catch on.

* * *

Elsa's wide eyes almost had the Doctor thinking that he'd done wrong in his punishment of Hans; but the Queen simply chuckled softly, "Well he did want to be on a throne" The Doctor smiled with relief.

"I was thinking, I might stay in Arendelle for a while," he stared up at the perfectly crafted ceiling.

"That would be wonderful, as long as you like Doctor, the gates are always open to you"

He smiled briefly at her, "I'm sorry that things got so crazy"

"I'm sorry that I froze you," Elsa stood up and looked down at the relaxed Doctor. It was the first time he'd looked so calm since she'd met him. She grabbed his jacket from the coat stand.

"I thought I'd lost that," he got up to retrieve it from her and slid his arms into the familiar sleeves. He gathered up the lapels and breathed in the space dust it had gathered over the years. The Doctor looked down the petite Snow Queen, the stress was gone from her face, she was back in her rightful place, in her home, and she was adored by her people.

"We should celebrate your return. I owe Arendelle a true celebration anyway after the last disaster"

* * *

The music filling the ballroom finally subsided, the couples stopped dancing, applauding each other politely.

The steward stood proudly at the head of the ballroom, "I give you, Queen Elsa of Arendelle," Elsa stood beside him and nodded politely, "Princess Anna of Arendelle"

Anna, late as ever, found herself being pushed through the crowd by Kristoff, hurriedly taking her place beside her sister, she beamed around happily, even waving at a few of the couples. Cheering erupted, and the sound of clapping filled the ballroom. It all stopped when the music started back up again; and the dancing continued. For the first time, everything was going right.

"Where did the Doctor get to?" Anna raised up onto her tiptoes to scan the room.

"Over there," Elsa pointed to the main entrance where the Doctor was emerging in his finest tuxedo and tails.

"What is he wearing? I love it!" Anna seemed to love everything the Doctor did, or wore, or said. Kristoff rolled his eyes and took the opportunity to grab her hand and lead her off for a dance. The Doctor manoeuvred his way across the dance floor and up to the Queen, he offered his hand out and bowed embarrassingly low just as Kristoff had done all those weeks ago.

"My Queen, may I have this dance?"

"Don't call me that," Elsa couldn't help but stifle a giggle, "Doctor, I don't, I don't dance"

He stood up straight, shrugged pointedly and simply said, "Well neither do I, let's give it go," Grabbing her hand he led her fluidly into the crowd of dancers; he delicately raised her hand and twirled her gently. He gave her an encouraging grin, "I usually only dance at weddings," he admitted before they joined in beside Anna and Kristoff.

The festivities went on long into the night, the sisters relaxed by Elsa's throne, drinks in hands, giggling away as the hard-core party goers maintained the dance floor. Kristoff and the Doctor hovered by the punch bowl.

"So uh, Doctor, did it, did it work? The, the thing I mean?" Kristoff leant in close to the Doctor so as not to be overheard, "The thing you asked me to do" The Doctor set his drink down calmly and looked Kristoff in the eye.

"No. It didn't work. I've still got a frozen heart"

"But it's not spreading at least?" The Doctor shook his head in response, "Does Elsa know?"

"No, and she doesn't need to know. The last thing we need to do is to put that fear back into her. She's got it under control now" Kristoff didn't look convinced, he screwed his face up.

"Why aren't both of your hearts frozen?"

"My anatomy is a little more complicated"

"I know where we can get you help"

"The trolls?" the Doctor took his full glass and downed the contents instantly. Kristoff's face was enough to stop a clock, "I know already. Elsa told me"

"Then, we should go and see them then," the ice mason shrugged. The time lord glanced to the happy sisters, "Oh don't worry, they don't need to know, we could go now, it's late, they won't be leaving the castle tonight"

"We'll have to take the sled. My Tardis is in Elsa's room"


	7. Chapter 7: Like Ice and Rage

**Chapter 7: Like Ice and Rage**

Seated beside Kristoff the Doctor could appreciate how he appealed to Princess Anna. Strong, independent, reliable. His mind wandered to how Queen Elsa saw he himself. He quickly shook himself off his train of thought, he was far too old for all that.

"I don't understand why your second heart didn't thaw with the other one," the ice mason pondered holding tightly onto the reins as Sven led the sleigh.

"Clearly there's some problem with thawing out hearts," the Doctor sighed and lit Kristoff's lantern with his screwdriver.

"What is that thing anyway?"

"It's a screwdriver," the Doctor replied casually.

"A screwdriver?" Kristoff snorted not believing a single word, "I haven't seen you fix any cabinets around Arendelle"

"Ah, that's because it doesn't work on wood," the Doctor smirked leaning back, "So tell me about the trolls then, how do they know of Elsa's magic, and more importantly, how much do they know?"

"When we were all kids, Elsa froze her sister's head, the King and Queen rode them out here on horseback. Sven and I followed Elsa's ice trail, she was out of control. The magic was removed from Anna, as were her memories of Elsa's powers. We weren't close enough to hear anything more though, isn't that right Sven?" The reindeer grunted back in reply.

"Just one thing," the Doctor turned in his seat to look straight at Kristoff.

"Yeah buddy what is it?"

"Why is _he_ here?" The time lord thumbed to Olaf riding in the back of the sled. Kristoff shook his head and frowned at the little snowman.

"He'd only tell Elsa if we left him"

"Is he cool?" The Doctor still glanced back into the back of the sleigh.

"Of course I'm cool. I'm a snowman for peats sake!"

The Doctor grabbed the back-rest and faced Olaf, "That's not what I meant and you know it," he forcefully pointed at him.

"Hey you two. Cut it out" Kristoff snapped the reins without thinking. An indignant Sven brought the sleigh to an abrupt halt, "I'm sorry Sven, I wasn't thinking. Come on buddy, let's keep going, please? I said I was sorry"

"Is the reindeer in charge?" Olaf giggled at the Doctor who was already stifling a chuckle.

"Which one is the reindeer?"

They both fell about laughing as an exasperated Kristoff tried to persuade Sven to continue.

It took longer than planned but they eventually arrived at the valley of the living rock. Many large moss covered rocks lay about in the clearing that Kristoff had led them to. The Doctor casually soniced a few rocks before tucking his screwdriver away drawing his own silent conclusions.

"He's crazy," Olaf whispered to the Doctor who simply pressed his finger to his lips and continued to stride around in his bow legged way. The rocks began to shudder and roll, Olaf hid behind Sven who stood nonchalantly chewing a carrot. The time lord didn't give the emerging trolls a second thought as his eyes suspiciously scanned the tree line surrounding the clearing.

"Don't worry friend, we are quite hidden here"

"Pabbie!" Kristoff beamed rushing to the troll leader at the Doctors side.

"Kristoff's home!" They all chorused surrounding the ice mason happily. Neither Pabbie nor the Doctor joined in the happy reunion, instead they simply stared calmly at one another.

"I can't help you," the lead troll said finally.

"But you know what can," the Doctor couldn't afford to chase puffs of magic his whole life, he needed the solution now.

"I don't aid murderers," Hearing this Kristoff froze, Olaf gasped and Sven dropped his carrot. Despite the new stares the Doctor and Pabbie remained stood calmly eye to eye, or so to speak, "There's blood on your hands friend, more than even you can wash off, more than you can run from"

"I've saved _more_ lives than have been lost"

"That doesn't vindicate you"

"I didn't say that it did"

Pabbie stared hard at the Doctor, so hard that the time lord was convinced that he could quite literally see through him, "It's not easy to change a heart, anywhere else I may be able to persuade," the troll sighed at last.

"But you know what can change it back?"

"True love"

"Love," the Doctor scoffed, "Bit cheesy, anything else?"

"It doesn't make it any less of a fact, true love is the only thing that will thaw a frozen heart"

"But I've already had one heart thaw out," the Doctor protested, "Why hasn't the other one? I did the whole love thing, I used my final moments to save Elsa's sister! Self-sacrifice"

"You save lives out of guilt for those you've taken. There was no love or self-sacrifice. No. True. Love"

"That's not true," the Doctor swallowed hard, and willed his tears not to come.

"Wait, hold up a minute, Pabbie, you're saying this guy has killed people? Actual people?"

"It's not like that Kristoff," the Doctor held onto his cool.

"No, don't you speak for him, Pabbie, is it true?"

The Troll leader simply sighed as he continued to stare down the Doctor, the time lord turned away and strolled a few slow paces, "He is as old as time," Pabbie drew up his magic in the air above them, a silhouette of the time lord appeared, fiery light surrounded him, shadowy people fell and a storm raged, "His temper burns like fire, his actions, cold like ice. He rages through the universe like the oncoming storm," at this the Doctor looked up. When he saw Pabbie's depiction of him in the air above them he instantly turned away again, his head low in shame.

"It's no wonder your heart won't thaw. You knew that it wouldn't anyway didn't you? When you gave me those instructions to make your box help Elsa's ice to thaw," Kristoff continued despite the Doctor refusing to face him, "Elsa thinks she thawed out the whole Kingdom!"

"And aren't you glad she thinks she did?!" the Doctor let the tip of his temper show as he turned on Kristoff, "People were going to freeze to death, Arendelle was about to be taken over by that, that monster. Anna was about to die! More _good_ happened than you're choosing to remember Kristoff. I could have flown away in my Tardis, instead I stayed and helped Elsa when she needed it. When you all needed it!"

The Doctor had lived through ten lives already, he was clinging to this eleventh form as tightly as he could, he'd never felt more alive this way. He didn't want to change, with the regeneration option removed he didn't want to die either. He knew now that help wasn't coming from Pabbie, staying up in the valley of the living rock seemed pointless, he turned to walk the long distance back to Arendelle, "And for the record," he called over his shoulder to Kristoff, "Elsa _did_ thaw the kingdom by herself, my time machine only amplified her magic. The Tardis doesn't thaw ice"

The ice mason watched the Doctor stroll away until he disappeared from view beyond the tree-line. He turned to Pabbie, a bewildered expression on his face.

"You, have some explaining to do," he told the small troll stood beside him, "I definitely didn't have that guy down as a killer. You should see him with Queen Elsa, he looks at her like he'd jump in front of a horse for her or something. Pabbie, you know more than this, tell me what you know"

Pabbie looked slightly sheepish, "The man has had eleven faces. Each his _own_ man, but the same soul inside. _This_ man is not a destroyer of worlds as his predecessors have been, but he _is_ the same, in here," the troll thumped a fist against his chest aiming at his heart.

"Oh Pabbie come on," Kristoff folded his arms, "Can't people change? Look at Elsa, she locked herself away, scared of the world, now look at her. Ruling Arendelle as she was meant to"

"Young Kristoff, you're naïve to the world"

"Hey, his heart has to melt for something, there's got to be some act of true love heading his way. Pabbie, you've been good to me, you took me in, but you called this one wrong. The Doctor is a good man, I know it. I shouldn't have doubted it"

"Kristoff, be careful. Death follows him"

"I'll keep that in mind, come on Sven"

* * *

The Doctor frowned at his own stupidity, it was impossible to run from the bloody past that seemed to trail behind him. So many people had died in his name, and he himself had taken lives, if only to save the innocent. It was bound to catch up with him, he obviously hadn't been running fast enough from it all.

"Okay grumpy pants, get in," Kristoff brought his sled to a halt beside the Doctor. The Time Lord stopped his dazed stroll to give the blonde a simple shake of his head.

"I'll walk," he muttered before digging his hands deep into his pockets and continuing on. Sven walked a steady pace, keeping Kristoff annoyingly in line with the Doctors every step.

"Oh come on Doc, you have to forgive Pabbie back there, he's stuck in his ways. He's not as young as he used to be. All those things are in your past, in your other pasts. The other you's"

"My past is with me wherever I run to"

"Doctor, you have to just let it go," Kristoff jumped out of the sled to walk beside the time lord, "The past is in the past. Anyone and everyone who you did right by, forgives you every single sin. We're all human, and space alien people," Kristoff paused on hearing Olaf's meaningful cough, "And snowmen, obviously," he waved erratically back at Olaf as he spoke, "We'll figure this out. We've got your back" The Doctor couldn't help but fight off a smile that was attempting to surface. With his mouth trying desperately to curl into a grin, he looked up at Kristoff.

"An act of true love huh?"

"Uh, yes. Yes! True love," Kristoff hesitated as the Doctor patted him firmly on the shoulder grinning his white toothy grin, "But not with me okay Doc," he laughed as the Doctor pulled him into a tight hug.


	8. Chapter 8: Shooting stars

**Chapter 8: Shooting stars**

Word spread across the land of the Doctor that resided in Arendelle's castle. He advised the Queen in her decision making regarding the kingdom and all its trade. He designed Arendelle's merchant ships to fit more tradable items below the decks. Arendelle was prospering under Queen Elsa's reign more than anyone had thought possible. All this, despite cutting off trade with the Southern Isles and Weselton.

"Trust me," the Doctor had assured her, "You won't miss that bit of trade" He sealed the letter declaring the stopping of trade with Elsa's royal seal pressed hard into the cooling wax.

"How did you make the ships take on more cargo?" She asked passing the letter to the awaiting messenger. The Doctor waited until their company had departed.

"Time lord technology," he tapped his nose knowingly, "You remember my blue box don't you? Well the cargo holds are now bigger on the inside" He slipped his glasses on and continued to scan the map looking for possible ports to increase trade further. Without stirring him from his obvious focus Elsa rose from her seat then placed her palm in the middle of the map.

"I think we can continue with this once we hear that my letters have been received by our neighbours"

The Doctor's stare ran the whole length of her arm, fingertips all the way up to her blue eyes, he removed his glasses and sat back in his chair, "Well then," he opened his arms, "What do you suggest we do?"

"I'd love very much, to see inside your time machine again," her eyes lit up as she spoke of the forbidden box that had been off limits since the Doctor's return. The Doctor too, wanted very much to go back inside his Tardis for a while. He gave her a soft smile.

"What are we waiting for?"

Elsa led him to her room where the box had been stored away from the prying eyes of the staff. As they were passing through the doorway the Doctor felt eyes upon him, but as the door clicked shut behind him it was too late to see who they belonged to.

* * *

"He's good for Elsa," Anna and Kristoff had been stood on one of the balcony's along the corridor and watched the pair disappear into Elsa's room.

"You think?" Kristoff turned back to admire the view of the ocean they had, they could just about see the horizon line with the occasional white sailed ship floating by out of the harbour.

"Yeah, I mean, look at Arendelle. It's never been more alive since he's been here," Anna absent-mindedly plucked a small purple flower from the plant pot stood on the corner of the flat stone rail. She put it to the tip of her nose and breathed in deeply, "And Elsa has never been this happy in, well, in forever"

"She does seem happy," Kristoff agreed he reached out to grab a rope hanging down, it allowed the window cleaner to hoist himself up and down the second floor windows. The ice mason pulled it hard bringing the platform up to their level. Anna's face transformed into a cheeky grin, "Your transport is here," he chuckled as Princess Anna happily climbed aboard the swinging piece of wood not even the slightest bit fearful for her life as the strong Kristoff hoisted her to the roof top. It took a few moments for him to join her, pulling his own weight wasn't as easy as lifting the slender Princess. From the roof they had a much better view of the harbour, the sun rippled across the calm waters. They waved to a passing merchant ship on its way to deliver goods to one of their trade partners then came to rest sat side by side on the cool tiles of the roof. Anna rested her head on his shoulder.

"It's so nice to have the sun back, and the gates open," she sighed contently as the golden rays of the setting sun warmed her skin.

"Yeah," Kristoff closed his eyes in agreement.

* * *

The Doctor couldn't help but smile widely at seeing his Tardis humming gently in the corner of Elsa's room. He could feel Elsa's eyes upon him, willing him to open the door and show off his pride and joy. After a glance in her direction he clicked his fingers sharply, the door obediently clicked open.

"How did you do that?"

"A friend told me how to do it," he replied striding up to the doorway, the orange glow from inside seeped out casting a glow across the floor and walls, "After you, your majesty" Elsa gave him a light punch in the arm on her way past

"Don't call me that," she chuckled, "… Such a mad man"

He followed the Queen inside, even though she'd already been inside once before she was just as in awe this second time. The Doctor watched her expression as she took in everything, he lived for these moments, when someone saw the Tardis for the first time. The wonder and the excitement. It had been so long since he'd experienced that awe, he adored seeing it in the faces of his visitors and companions.

"You said it was a time machine," she said circling the console, letting a finger gently run around the edge.

"Yes"

"You can travel to the past?"

"And future"

Her eyes drank in the glory of the console panels, all the intricate instruments that guided the machine through time and space. As she ran her hand over some of the controls the Tardis chortled loudly and lights flashed in front of the startled Queen, "She likes you," the Doctor smiled ascending up to the platform to join her, "What would you like to see?"

Elsa looked up at her grinning, bow legged, floppy haired Doctor, "Something amazing," she breathed.

"One _'amazing'_ coming right up," he beamed flying around the controls as he'd done his whole life, seamlessly piloting his wonderful Tardis into the vortex, "Hold on tight," he told her putting her hand firmly on the handle of the console monitor; with that he dragged the dematerialisation lever and all hell broke loose beneath Elsa's feet. She barely managed to hang on as the Tardis leapt through time and space. In mere minutes everything came to an abrupt halt, "We're here!" the Doctor announced as he pulled on the handbrake.

"Right now? But we, wait, how? I mean, that was fast"

The Doctor loved her innocence in time travel, he took her hand gently, "Come on, I'll show you" At the doors he hesitated, "Elsa"

"Yes Doctor?"

"Close your eyes" Elsa smiled suspiciously then closed her eyes.

"I hope you aren't going to throw me out Doctor"

"Haha, of course not, keep them shut tightly okay?" he opened the first door and secured it open, then released the catch holding the second door shut, he rarely got to open both doors, the feeling excited him. He guided the Queen almost to the edge, "Okay, open them"

"Oh my," Elsa put hand to her mouth, the view was like nothing she'd ever thought existed. She was amongst the stars, they shimmered beautifully across the dark navy backdrop, "Oh Doctor," she peered over the edge into nothingness, just more stars all around them, "How is it that we aren't falling?"

"We're in space, my ship sort of, well I guess you could say that it floats," the Doctor attempted to check the time on his watch, "Water spoils everything doesn't it?" He took his watch off sadly, he loved that watch, then proceeded to check the clock on the console, "In about, twenty minutes there's going to be the biggest collection of shooting stars in the history of the universe," he took the second set of stairs down beneath the console and opened up his surprisingly warm former ice cooler. He pulled out a pack of bubble-gum sodas. The glass bottles clinked together as he returned to Elsa's side at the doorway, she was still admiring the view, "Have a seat," he urged sitting down himself in the doorway letting his legs swing off the edge. She settled herself beside him also letting her legs swing out into space. While Elsa remained still stunned into her awed silence the Doctor took a bottle opener from his deep pockets and tugged the caps off two of the bottles, "It's a bit warm," he apologised, "My cooler is, well let's say that it doesn't work anymore"

"No problem," the Queen replied holding onto both bottles, the glass froze instantly. The Doctor grinned widely.

"You're getting really good with that," he handed her a bottle. They sat in silence for a few long minutes waiting for the stars. The Doctor drank his soda almost in one go. To his surprise Elsa sighed and let her head lean against his shoulder.

"It's really beautiful up here Doctor"

"Yeah," he breathed letting his head drop gently to lean against the top of hers.

When the stars began to fall and shimmer across the dark blanket of space the pair remained fixed in their cosy position. The whole phenomenon lasted no longer than ten minutes from start to finish. The Doctor closed his eyes and breathed in a deep breath, content not to move for all of time. It wasn't until he felt Elsa fighting off a yawn that he encouraged her up to the console sofa. After readying the Tardis to take them home he was about to tell the Queen that they could have many adventures together, and that she could join him on all his crazy journeys when she interrupted his train of erratic thoughts.

"I'm glad that Arendelle has you Doctor, I know you can't stay forever, but you're like a hero to the people. It's wonderful"

The Doctor found himself unable to do anything but smile. He was no hero. He turned back to the console and set the time course for Arendelle.

The Tardis shuddered to a halt as it landed gracefully in the corner of Elsa's room again. The Queen was already halfway towards the door, the Doctor watched her back. His beating heart actually stopped at the prospect of ever leaving her behind in Arendelle. It scared him, he was actually scared of losing the Snow Queen. He pulled the handbrake on, when he attempted to follow her he found himself stuck to the handbrake lever.

"What the..." He looked down to see that his hand was fast frozen to the lever, ice was spreading from where his hand was stuck; it engulfed the handbrake.

"Doctor are you coming?"

"Uh, I'll be there in a minute," The Doctor called trying desperately to look calm. As the door clicked shut behind the Queen he took his screwdriver and took a few readings from the ice. He almost fell over upon reading the results, the ice was coming from him, "This is absolutely very not good"


	9. Chapter 9: Lord of Time and Ice

**Chapter 9: Lord of Time and Ice**

He stared at his hand, between every finger, turning his hand this way and that. Through the magnifying glass his green eyes looked huge, "But it's just impossible," he told the hologram he'd programmed in for company, "This shouldn't have happened"

"Whatever remains however improbable must be the truth," his own voice harped back at him for the fifth time. The Doctor sat back in his console seat still examining his hand, he hadn't been able to replicate what had happened when he had become stuck to the handbrake lever. He tapped his teeth with the tip of his sonic screwdriver deep in thought.

"What about absorption of DNA?" he asked the flickering image of himself without even offering it a glance.

"Negative. Pure Time Lord DNA cannot accommodate additional strands" The Doctor sighed and closed his eyes.

"That's what I thought," he murmured. He thought about confessing all to Elsa, but his lies had already gone past the point of no return. No, he definitely couldn't go running to Elsa. For a second he considered going back to the valley of the living rock, but the thought of having to face Pabbie again completely put him off the idea. He didn't need to feel any more miserable about himself than he already did. Instead he did what any other concerned Time Lord would do. He put on his fez and pulled faces at himself in the console mirror. Needless to say he wasn't entertained for very long before he was once again, slouched over the sofa re-examining his hand. He dropped the magnifying glass to the floor beside him with a clatter, "What am I going to do?"He groaned loudly.

A light tapping on the Tardis door brought him out of his despair.

"Should I get that?" the hologram asked.

"Shut up, you're not helping anything," the Doctor carelessly switched off the projection with his screwdriver. He gathered all the sanity he had left and moved sluggishly to open the door. It was Princess Anna who greeted him as the door swung inwards.

"Hey Anna"

"Hey yourself," she replied with her usual sing song tone, "Are you going to join us for dinner? I'm surprised the smell hasn't lured you down already, it smells delicious doesn't it? And for dessert we had the royal bakery make a _huge_ chocolate cake"

"That sounds wonderful," the Doctor straightened his red bow tie and checked that his braces weren't twisted beneath his tweed jacket.

"You look great Doctor," Anna reassured him. He followed the cheery Princess down to the overly large dining room. It was far too big for a casual meal but there weren't many rooms in the palace smaller than this one. The Doctor sighed and allowed his eyes to wander around the room. Kristoff was already seated beside Elsa pointing to an ice sculpture he'd made that was currently acting as a centre piece. With a wave of her hand Elsa created a small flurry above it to keep it cool. The Doctor found the act from the Snow Queen breathtaking. The Queen who not even a few months ago had very limited control over her magic. She continued in her conversation with the ice mason as he and Anna approached, "I found him," Anna announced falling into the seat opposite her sister. This ignited Elsa's attention.

"Doctor," She beamed, "What took you so long?"

"I, had a few things to take care of," he replied casually. When she turned to address her sister Anna the Doctor shot a meaningful glance at Kristoff who simply responded with a bewildered look. 'What?' he mouthed at the Time Lord. The Doctor simply held his hand just above the table and wiggled his fingers. Kristoff shook his head completely confused, 'What do you mean?' The Doctor puffed his cheeks out in annoyance and picked up a glass on the table. It froze in his grip. Kristoff did everything to stop himself from looking startled, he held his breath to stop the sharp gasp that so desperately wanted to escape him. The Doctor hid the frosty glass next to the ice sculpture out of sight pretending to admire the model of Anna and Olaf. The two men stared at each other, the Doctor frowned unblinkingly at Kristoff. He had no idea what was going to happen to him, he'd already been plagued for nights on end by nightmares, wondering how on earth he was going to thaw his heart, now he'd acquired Elsa's powers by some crazed misfortune.

After the main course the pair excused themselves, "But you'll miss the chocolate cake!" Anna protested as Kristoff planted a kiss on her forehead. The Doctor merely nodded in a slight bow as he retreated with Kristoff out into the corridor.

"What the hell Doc?"

"I seem to have acquired some of Elsa's magic" He rubbed his hands together still staring at Kristoff, unsure of what his next plan was going to involve to debunk this mystery.

"Oh well no kidding. What does it mean? What's happening to you?"

"I don't know!" the Doctor put his hands up gripping his hair tightly and pulling hard, "I don't know how to stop this!" Kristoff backed away a few steps causing the Doctor to look down to where ice was creeping out from the soles of his boots.

"Don't panic. Panic makes it worse," Kristoff put a hand out with the intent to make the Time Lord calm down, though it didn't really achieve this. The Doctor actually considered borrowing Elsa's gloves, they weren't really his colour though.

"This is disastrous"

"You need to tell Elsa. If you don't, then, then I'll have tell her"

The Doctor felt utterly betrayed by Kristoff's fly away comment. With each step he took towards the ice mason, more ice spread out, "I can't tell her!"

"Tell me what?" the Queen emerged into the corridor from the dining room. She immediately saw the ice seeping from the Doctor's boots. She took a sharp intake of breath, "Doctor...!"

"It's not what it looks like" he protested feebly.

"How is this possible?" Elsa rushed to his side. She quickly thawed the ice that was threatening to reach Kristoff. She took the Doctor's ashamed face in her hands, "You need to tell me what's going on. How did this happen?," she asked him firmly, "Doctor," she forced him to look her in the eye, "Tell me" He looked into her concerned blue eyes, everything within him was melting under her stare. He was at the end of the line, at the end of his lie. It was now or never.

"I still have a frozen heart," he confessed.

"What?" She backed away a few steps in horror, "Why? How? I don't understand. Doctor..."

'Oh god,' he thought, 'Just start crying and apologising. Throw yourself at her mercy. Do a dance. Put on a fez. Anything' But all he could muster was a meek, "I was going to tell you"

"How long have you known?"

"Elsa it's not as bad as you think"

"Doctor, how long have you known?"

"Not long, only, you know, since I thawed out"

"What?!" The look on Elsa's face. It killed him. Pure hurt, pure betrayal.

"I swear I was trying to protect you!" During their sharp exchanges they didn't notice Kristoff flee back to the safety of his Princess. Anna had come to see what all the fuss was about, she stood in the doorway to the dining room, the light cast from inside practically silhouetted her.

"Elsa are you okay?" she called. Else stared at the Doctor, her head shook from side to side in a silent 'no'. The Doctor simply stood as the tears welled up, causing in eyes to shine in the light cast upon them.

"I'm scared Elsa. I don't know what's happening. I thought I could figure this out on my own, but I can't. First it was my heart and now I'm freezing myself to everything I touch," a tear escaped to run down his cheek, "Help me Elsa. Please, please help me"

Elsa did nothing but stare at the Doctor. She could see the fear she'd felt reflected in his eyes. She'd been terrified, all at sea, with such a misunderstanding of her winter magic. Then he'd turned up in his wonderful blue box and all those horrible feelings had been banished from her life. She pulled him into a tight embrace; and stroked his soft hair. "Everything will be fine," she told him with complete and utter conviction in her tone, "I promise"

Anna cast her eyes on a guilty looking Kristoff, "You'd better hope that you didn't know about this," she warned him. He swallowed hard.

"Of course not," he lied as Anna too pulled him into a hug. Over the sister's shoulders the two men simply stared at each other. It seemed as though their bumbling about was about to come to a halt with the Arendelle sisters now on board to solve the mystery of both the Doctor's frozen heart and the transferred winter magic.


	10. Chapter 10: Servant in Silver

**Chapter 10: Servant in silver**

The fire radiated its warmth throughout the drawing room. The Doctor did his best to warm himself sitting on the floor in front of the open flames, he was just about overcoming the chills that had taken over him in his earlier panic. Elsa sat beside him her blue eyes watching him intently.

"Trust me, from personal experience, that's probably not the best idea," Elsa warned watching the Doctor slip on the former Prince Hans' white gloves.

"Elsa I can't even brush my teeth without freezing the whole toothbrush," the Doctor looked up at her, exasperated with himself. Everything he touched lately was getting engulfed in ice. He spent half his time freezing everything and the other half of the time was spent by Elsa trying to thaw everything out after him, "I don't think me staying here is going to work out," he told her, "I'm going to just, get in the Tardis, fly away and everything will go back to normal for you all"

Elsa puffed her cheeks out in mild frustration, "You know, that's probably not a good idea either. Running off in your box alone, scared and transforming into, god knows what, is not the answer. Doctor, trust me. I've been there. I would never have reached today without you"

"I need more answers and I don't know where to look. I'll take the Tardis and see what I can find out there in the universe"

"You're not going alone. I'll come with you"

The Doctor couldn't believe her stubbornness, "But it's not safe for you"

"Well it's not safe for you either. You have no idea what's happening to you. You need someone with you"

"The trolls said that true love would cause my second heart to thaw," He took his jacket off and threw it casually onto the chair behind him, "The problem is that, I've got a past brimming with terrible, terrible things, I'm old Elsa, there's so much in my past even I can't recall it all. I don't think that love is going to be enough to save me"

Elsa couldn't help but chuckle, "Oh Doctor look at you. You're not old at all"

"I'm twelve hundred and three"

"Whoa," Elsa's head jerked up at this. She was aware that the Doctor wasn't human but that was an age beyond even her comprehension, "That's really old. Why do you look so young?"

"If something happens to me. Let's say, I'm injured very badly, or old age catches up with me. Every cell in my body changes, and I become a whole new man," he took her hand and put it against his cheek, "This is my eleventh face you know"

"Well can't you just do that now? Get a whole new everything, and you'll get new hearts too, won't you?"

"I can't. The ice and magic are preventing me from regenerating" A look of guilt swept across Elsa's face like the blizzards she was capable of creating. It was because of her that the Doctor had lost control over his ability to save himself from death, "There's only one place I can think of that we should go to," she said at last. The Doctor raised his head in silent question, her knowing smile let him in on her plan.

* * *

It was just a quick hop up the North Mountain in the Tardis much to Elsa's surprise.

"Well that was much quicker than running," Elsa exclaimed stepping out into the knee deep snow, "Oh," her shoulders fell when she saw what was left of her Ice Palace. It was no more than a pile of huge shards and lumps of ice strewn over the edge of the cliff face. At her side the Doctor pulled each glove off finger by finger. He folded them gently into her hand and gave her the briefest of smiles. A few steps in front of her he paused and opened a palm up in front of him. A small puff of ice whirled and scattered into the air.

"I've got this," he smiled over his shoulder at her. Though not half as graceful as the Queen the Doctor busted the best moves he possessed as he drew up Elsa's pre-formed ice as well as creating his own. A squared off structure emerged, finished off with a shiny beacon atop. Elsa giggled at his efforts.

"Doctor, it looks just like your time machine!" She gazed upon the polished arrangement as if it was the best thing she'd ever laid eyes on, "I love it!"

"Come on," he insisted wading through the snow to grab her hand, "Wow the snow really is deep up here. Oh! I know I know," he turned and crouched down in front of her, "Climb on"

"Oh, Doctor. I don't know. I, I can't"

"Live a little," he laughed, "Come on!"

Elsa's screams and laughter echoed through the North Mountain air as the Doctor carried her piggy back style all the way over to the entrance to his Ice Tardis. He shot up puffs of snow as they moved making it float down on them like the scenes you'd only ever see on postcards.

"You turn me into such an undignified Queen," Elsa bit her lip in silent laughter as she brushed off the snowflakes covering her dress. The Doctor beamed at her widely gently helping her by brushing the snow from her shoulders.

"Yeah but no-one needs to know" He pushed the large crystalline doors open revealing an almost perfect replica of his Tardis interior; without the bigger on the inside of course. The detail was terribly impressive; Elsa felt as though her own attempt at a mountain top retreat had been nothing more than a novice attempt, even though she'd been with her powers now for twenty one years, "I know what you're thinking," he strode up to the replica console unit, "You're thinking, how is it possible that I made everything so detailed on my first attempt"

"Well, yeah. Actually that's _exactly_ what I was thinking"

"The only control over this magic that you have is your thoughts," the Doctor mused, "There's no command, or a manual," he opened up his hands, "It's a bit like my screwdriver," he pulled the object of scrutiny from his pocket and tossed it across to her, "You just point and think. I've had a lot of practice with that; and a whole lot more console experience" The Time Lord turned back to the console and rested his hands on it, thick ice began to form under his touch. He tugged the gloves back on hurriedly, "It's still very hard to keep a handle on it though," he confessed. A gentle hand came to rest on his shoulder.

"We'll fix this you know, you won't have to put up with this forever" As he turned to face her she caught his face in her hands and kissed his forehead softly. The Doctor responded with another embrace with the Snow Queen, since his mishap with her magic he no longer noticed how cold her touch was. It was times like this, when he was lost and without hope, that he needed someone like Elsa. He'd so often found great comfort in the companions that he'd welcomed on board his Tardis. They always seemed to know what he needed. Elsa was trying her absolute best despite the fact that she'd not travelled with him or known him for very long. He breathed in deeply; inhaling her frosty scent; she calmed him, made him feel like he could melt icebergs - If only that would translate into the ice magic that was trapping him.

* * *

For the second time the pair found themselves in the open Tardis doorway, this time suspended over Arendelle watching the stars come out. The Doctor kept his gloves on and watched his feet swinging high above the castle, "Thank you," he murmured.

"For what?"

"For not running up the North Mountain when you found out"

"I'm doing this thing where I don't run from problems anymore," Elsa smiled handing him a freezing cold soda.

* * *

Across the universe Hans was slowly coming to. He groaned as he struggled to open his eyes. The last thing he remembered was a bright light and a feeling of weightlessness.

"What the..." he found himself pinned down by metal shackles. The restraints were tight around his ankles and wrists; and why did his head ache so much? His vision was blurry; Hans found himself drifting in and out of consciousness. Voices swirled around him.

"Co-ordinates extracted. Subject integrated. Tardis location is being extrapolated"

The voices were robotic, but to Hans they just sounded odd and distant. He could feel something spiderlike stuck to the left side of his face, he rocked his head dazedly from side to side in an attempt to shake it loose to no avail. Suddenly an alarm sounded, red light flashed through his closed eyelids.

"The Tardis is active. Prepare to descend. Signal fleet formation. Prepare the Cyber planner"

Before Hans lost his battle with unconsciousness he just caught sight of a large silver robot with round tear drop eyes and straight mouth. In the centre of its chest a large blue disc was illuminated.

"No, please," he breathed as he was overcome by the darkness.

* * *

*please note* War Doctor not included in regenerations for this fic.


	11. Chapter 11: The Invasion of Arendelle

**Chapter 11: The Invasion of Arendelle**

"Again!" Anna cheered as Olaf finished yet another self-composed sing and dance in the courtyard. The little snowman huffed and puffed.

"I am way out of shape," he complained attempting to muster up the strength to go for a third rendition.

"Give the guy a break, he's three foot tall and made of snow," Kristoff laughed as Sven spied an opportunity to grab at the carrot nose that Olaf wore so proudly.

* * *

The Doctor turned around holding a sovereign's sceptre in one hand and a sovereign's orb in the other.

"As he holds the holy properties, and is crowned in this holy place, I present to you...," Elsa fought back the giggles attempting to unleash themselves, "King Doctor! Of... Of the Tardis!" She clapped happily seeing the amusement in his face. Both the sceptre and orb by this point were completely coated in a thick layer of ice, "Imagine doing that in front of strangers," she assisted him by prying the objects from his hands.

"I don't know how you managed it," the Doctor returned his hands into the safety of his newly acquired gloves.

"You understood all that?"

"The Tardis translates everything. You have a wonderful Norse accent you know," the Doctor replied casually, Elsa's confused face brought a grin to his, he could practically hear her train of thought struggling to leave the station, "So if I were to say it for you, and I spoke it in English," he cleared his throat hoping that the Tardis would perform a fairly accurate back-translation for him, "Sem hon heldr inum helgum eignum ok krýnd í þessum helga stað ek té fram fyrir yðr… Queen Elsa, of Arendelle"

Elsa stared open mouthed at him, "Wow. That was, wow," she looked down at the two royal pieces of history wondering how many times they'd been witnesses to similar speeches.

"It feels longer when someone else says it though," the Doctor pondered.

"Oh I know how long it feels like," she carefully folded the sceptre and orb back into the cloth they'd come from and put them gently back into the Doctor's below console 'ice cooler' / trunk of acquired stuff, "Where did you get these from?"

"Elizabeth I, very generous woman" the Doctor replied cheerily, "You can have them if you like. They were a gift, real gold too, but, I have no use for them"

"Elizabeth I, of England!?"

"Yeah. Of course. Who else?"

"Oh I've always wanted to go to England," she sighed letting the lid close softly. The Doctor paused and watched her for a moment; perhaps a moment too long. He bit his lip and straightened his bow tie.

"You're not missing much," he lied thinking of all his treasured companions from the small island.

"Our parents always promised that one day we would visit England"

The Doctor felt his mouth hang open unable to contain his complete surprise at Elsa's comment, "Doctor? What is it? Are you alright?" Elsa was shocked at the sudden change in him.

"I'm fine," he found his legs shakey and unstable. The Time Lord shuffled to sit down on the closed trunk. He felt the colour drain from his face, his remaining heart almost pounded its way out of his chest.

"Doctor, you look really ill. Are you sure that you're alright?" The Snow Queen knelt in front of him, holding his gloved hands tightly in hers.

"I need to tell you something Elsa, it's very important"

"Anything Doctor. You can tell me anything"

"My, my watch, I broke my watch when I…"

The Tardis alarm rang out sharply, its flashing beacon swirled out from the time rotor. The pair stared at each other, "What's that?" Elsa mouthed over the noise.

"I have no idea, it doesn't sound good though," the Doctor leapt up and powered his way up the steps to the console level. He flew about the controls, took hold of the monitor handrail and strode powerfully around in time meet with Elsa. The swirling Gallifreyan language meant nothing to the Queen.

"Oh that is extremely very not good" The Doctor, with his most seriously serious face on, gave the data his full attention, "There's a fleet descending to earth," he flicked a few of the controls, pulled a couple of levers and shot a ball up into the pinball machine, "They're above us" The Doctor ran to the doors and ripped them wide open, he stuck his head out and gazed right up into the sky. The lights lit up the land and sky for miles. The Doctor squinted up to try to visually identify the ships. He slammed the doors shut quickly and locked them with the catch, "We've got a big problem," he told the worried looking Elsa. She didn't reply, the fear creeping into her eyes did all the questioning for her, "There's a fleet of Cyber ships above Arendelle"

"What are Cyber ships? Who's in them?" She was almost afraid to find out the answer.

"Cybermen"

* * *

The Doctor threw his diary down onto the console in front of them, he flicked quickly through the worn pages.

"Cybermen are deadly. They don't handle gold too well though," he turned another page over in the worn out Tardis-blue book to reveal a picture of a rather good hand-drawn Cyberman.

"Oh my," Elsa leaned in for a closer look. The creative cursive scrawl surrounding the picture detailed how humans could be converted, in brackets (upgraded) into Cybermen, "Wait. That used to be a person? Like you and me?"

"Yeah," the Doctor replied grimly, "Just like you and me, with hopes and dreams and fears. The Cybermen remove all emotion and weld the brain to a metal body. There's just no reasoning with them"

"You've met them before?"

"Ohh, have I met them before," the Doctor silently reminisced his encounters with the Cybermen.

The Tardis rumbled and shuddered beneath their feet. The onslaught on the Tardis had been going on for the past ten minutes while the Doctor had brought the Snow Queen into the loop of what they were dealing with. She looked up at him after recovering from the ground that rocked her so violently, "Anna and Kristoff are out there somewhere"

"I know," he murmured quietly, he flicked the monitor on again it revealed a handful of Cybermen violently attacking the Tardis doors. Elsa turned her head to the see doors shaking in real time under the force, "Don't worry," he told her calmly, "They'll never get through those doors"

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I trust the Tardis not to let them in"

"You talk about this machine like it's alive," Elsa's eyes swept over the controls panels, the central time rotor, the flickering lights.

"She is alive"

Elsa smiled at him, "I completely believe you Doctor," On the monitor the Cybermen had brought a large gun-like device to the Tardis doors, "Doctor what are they doing now?"

"Ohh! No!" put his glasses on sharply and leaned in closer, "No! That's cheating! No!" He jumped around the controls turning, twisting, flicking, pulling and pushing a whole number of controls, "They've got a interval suspension canon"

"What does that mean?"

"It means they're locking the Tardis into this moment," he switched channels to observe the swirling data on the monitor, "It's no good, they've deadlocked the system" he typed quickly into the typewriter, "We can only move spatially, not in time. We'll have to just, fly around manually. We can't stay here they'll just stay stood around the Tardis until we come out," he looked at her sadly, "I'm so sorry," he told her.

"For what?"

"For everything"

"I spent my whole childhood locked away, I've lived more with you than I have for my whole life. Whatever happens today Doctor. I'm not going to be sorry, and neither should you"

* * *

Kristoff pressed a finger to his lips. Across from him Anna and Olaf were holding tightly onto each other. When they'd seen the lights descending to earth Kristoff had insisted that they hide. He'd instructed Sven to run towards the North Mountain and to stop for nothing. The reindeer had been reluctant to leave his beloved owner but in the end had fled into the cover of the trees and begun his long trek away from the danger.

The remaining trio were huddled into a corner of the spacious attic space above the palace, "But what about Elsa?" Anna had protested as Kristoff had forced her through the ceiling trap door.

"She's with the Doctor. She'll be fine," he'd thrown Olaf up after her and scrambled up himself with great difficulty. He was definitely going on a diet after all this was over.

Below them they could hear heavy thuds from people marching along below them.

The dust up in the underused attic was getting too much for Olaf, he screwed his face up, fighting back the sneeze that was threatening to reveal their position. He took a few sharp intakes of breath preparing for the outburst. Kristoff dragged the carrot nose swiftly out of the snowman's face before the eruption could happen. He glowered at Olaf, "Are you trying to get us killed?" He breathed angrily. Suddenly an enormous explosion threw them across the attic, the roof crumbled and fell, debris was strewn about in an enormous cloud of dust.

"No it's okay! We missed them!" the Doctor's voice rang out, "But only just," he added sheepishly. Through the dust and chaos Anna could see the rectangular light coming from the Time Machine's open doorway, "Quickly," the Time Lord's voice rang out, "Into the Tardis! Come on come on!" He yelled ushering Anna inside. Kristoff swiftly followed.

"Wait where's Olaf!?" Anna cried, her hair was a mess, she was covered in debris and dust. In her distress she tried to launch herself past the Doctor to exit the Tardis again. He caught hold of her roughly, instead allowing Elsa to stride to the open door. She concentrated hard, holding both arms outstretched she formed a snow-globe around the disjointed little snowman. Despite blasts being fired up through the floor Elsa managed to guide her treasured little creation into the Time Machine. The Doctor slammed the door shut.

"We need to reverse," he told the serious faced Snow Queen. She nodded and to Anna's amazement she ran up to the console with the Doctor and assisted him in piloting the Tardis back out of the incredibly large hole in roof of the castle, "Left hand down! Left hand down!" He called, "Engage stabilisers two to six"

"We've lost stabilisers three and four," Elsa called back over the excruciatingly loud roar of the engines.

"Incoming!" The Doctor cried. A violent blast rippled through the whole Tardis leaving everyone hanging onto rails, the sofa, even clinging to the floor. For a moment they felt as though gravity had abandoned them as the time machine tumbled upside down, "Hold on tight!" The Time Lord yelled as he clung on for dear life, his floppy hair seemed to float, his jacket flew up behind him. He beamed across at Elsa, her tightly clipped hair looked flawless even upside down. They'd almost gone the whole three hundred and sixty degrees, the fall back down was imminent.

"Doctor!" Elsa called, she could feel her grip on the console slipping.

"Trust me!" He yelled slamming his fist down hard on a large red flashing button on the console panel. The Tardis came to a sharp stop, "Is everyone okay?" The Doctor clambered to his feet, "Woo what a ride! I knew you had it in you!" He rubbed the console fondly then leaned down to kiss the large red button that has ceased in flashing.

"I'm okay," A shaky Anna replied, she swayed from side to side, "I'm okay, I just feel little bit..." Kristoff stuffed his hat in front of her mouth as she vomited into it slightly.

"Ick, okay, walk it off feisty pants. Come on," he insisted taking her trembling arm and guiding her to walk a few times around the console. By the doorway Elsa was tending to Olaf.

"You feeling okay?" She asked after she'd re-inserted his nose

"Yeah I feel fine"

"Could have broken a lot of bones there," she chuckled reforming the small flurry above him that kept him alive.

"I don't have bones," he told her quite seriously.

"Oh come here Olaf," the Queen hugged him happily.

"I like warm hugs"

"I know you do little guy," she kissed the tip of his nose gently, "I'm glad you're alright"

The Doctor attempted to check the time on his bare wrist, "Damnit," he groaned leaning over to view the clock perched near the time rotor, "We don't have long," the Doctor informed them.

"What happened back there?" Elsa asked him as she rose to her feet.

"Emergency teleport," he flicked on the scanner, "They'll be here soon"

"Where are we?" Instead of answering the Doctor switched the view on screen and pushed the monitor towards her. Elsa couldn't help but smile seeing the ice Tardis staring back at her. Anna came to halt at Elsa's side, her mouth hung open as she observed the perfect structure.

"Wow, Elsa did you build that?"

"No of course not," her sister replied, "The Doctor did"

"Doctor its wonderful"

"Yeah real pretty. What the heck are we going to do up here?" Kristoff interjected once again bringing everyone back to the matter at hand, "And who the hell are these _'they'_ that are coming here?"

"Cybermen, I've got to face them. I've got to," the Doctor replied without hesitation, "They're here for me, they've followed the Tardis"

"You can't face them. You aren't yourself," Elsa protested.

The Doctor straightened his bow tie, pushed his erratic hair back into place, shook the remnants dust from his jacket and said simply, "I'm who I need to be"


	12. Chapter 12: When Ice met Metal

**Chapter 12: When Ice met Metal**

"Don't leave the Tardis no matter what happens," The Doctor gripped Elsa's shoulders tightly, forcing her to look at him, "Promise me," Elsa looked everywhere but at him shaking her head from side to side, willing the tears not to surface, "Arendelle will need their Queen when this is over, you've got to keep yourself safe, for them" She still refused to look at him, but the fact that she no longer shook her head was good enough for him, "Don't let her out of your sight," he told Kristoff as he pointed at the now fully recovered Princess Anna, "You would hate roller coasters," he told her with a grin.

The Doctor stepped out into the snow; the North Mountain had always been tipped off with a thick layer of the stuff. In his state the Doctor didn't feel even the slightest bit cold, "Okay," he told himself as he withdrew his sonic screwdriver, "Let's see what you've got for me this time" His enhanced hearing could just about make out the sound of the Cybermen's muffled march. The Doctor closed his eyes, it sounded like at least fifty foot soldiers coming to get him, "Such a small welcome party," he murmured to himself, "How rude" He silently debated over whether or not to remove his gloves. If the need arose then he'd have to use the magic flowing through him; but until things got that bad, he opted to keep it hidden.

* * *

Inside the Tardis the small group gathered around the monitor, a line of Cybermen appeared marching in sync up to face the Doctor.

"He can't take on all of them," Kristoff folded his arms firmly, "We need to go out there"

"He told us to stay here," Anna placed a calming arm on his hand, "The Doctor knows what he's doing"

Elsa leaned in to look more closely at the grainy image, one of the marching soldiers did not appear to be a Cyberman. In fact, the figure had a white suit on, tall boots, it even had hair, "Oh my god that looks like Hans. We've got to get out there. Now"

* * *

The Doctor clocked Hans striding towards him at the same moment, he held his sonic upright, watching the green light shine as the device buzzed softly. The doors of the Tardis deadlocked themselves shut, "No!" Elsa cried pulling the blue doors as hard she could, "Doctor no!" The Doctor could hear the banging on the doors behind him; he chose to ignore it and shifted his feet in mild impatience waiting for them to be close enough.

Hans' face was partially converted, slithers of metal with flashing blue pulses were covering the left side of his face. His grinned maniacally he approached the Time Lord with his platoon of Cybermen.

"The Cyber-Planner I presume," the Doctor lowered his screwdriver to his side.

"Doctor, how rude of you to have us pursue you up a mountain," Hans tilted his head to one side eying the Tardis behind the Time Lord, "Car trouble?"

"I'll reverse your time travel lock. It's no more than an inconvenience," the Doctor smiled showing off his teeth to the irritated Cyber-Planner. In the hint of a second he noticed a personality change occur, Hans' eyes looked momentarily distressed before the planner regained control, "Bit crowded in there?"

"Do not bore us with your chatter Doctor," Hans opened his hand towards the Time Lord, "Surrender your Time Machine" The Cybermen all aimed their arm guns at the Doctor.

The Doctor held his screwdriver up, he opened it to its full extension, "Shoot me and you'll never get inside. The Tardis is deadlocked, only I can deactivate it"

"Deadlocks are no threat to the combined processing power of the Cyberiad"

The Doctor sighed and lowered his screwdriver, "I thought you might say that"

* * *

Elsa pressed her cheek against the blue wood, she gripped the stainless steel handle, "Please," she pleaded, "Please let me help him"

Kristoff tapped Anna's arm and pointed to the Queen apparently talking to herself.

"She's crazy," Olaf whispered. Anna crept closer to her distressed sister.

"Elsa? You okay?" she rested a hand on her sister's shoulder. The Queen closed her eyes and tapped her head repeatedly against the door a few times.

"No," she replied, her voice threatening to break into a flood of sobs. A tear escaped down her cheek.

"There's nothing you can do," Anna told her, "There's no point torturing yourself. Or, you know, talking to yourself"

"I'm not talking to myself," Elsa put her palm against the door, "She needs to see reason, I can't allow the Doctor to die. She's got to let me out to save him"

Anna, a little shocked at the seemingly rapid deterioration in Elsa's mental state, backed away and returned to Kristoff's side, "What now?" she asked as Elsa continued her murmurings at the door.

"Please let me out. I can't let him die. I can't," Elsa could no longer hold back her body shaking sobs as she slid down the door to floor.

* * *

"For every Cyberman, and for all the enemies of the Doctor. We shall claim your vessel as your body lies cold. We shall take the time lord's technology and take what's ours in this disgrace of a universe. We shall take every reality, every moment, past, present, future. Hail to the new beginning, the greatest rise of the Cybermen"

The Doctor eyed every single gun aimed right at him, he actually found himself trembling. Was it cold? Was it fear? His hands shook so badly that he dropped his screwdriver to the floor and fell to his knees in the snow, his hands raised over his head, "I'll happily give my life for my friends, for my companions. I'll die over and over in the name of the Queen, for the people of Arendelle, in the name of the Doctor. But you will _never_ gain access to my ship when I'm dead. The Tardis will _never_ surrender, _never_ give up, she will _never_ do your bidding"

"Kill him! Kill him!" Hans' yelled hysterically. The Doctor threw his hands up to shield his face as the Cybermen attacked. A frosty explosion erupted before the Doctor cutting him off from the blasts from the Cybermen. He opened his eyes, patting himself down, unable to believe that he'd survived. He felt a sharp pinch on his arm.

"Ouch!" He complained rubbing his arm.

"You're definitely alive"

"Elsa," he beamed hugging her tightly.

"You silly man," she scalded, "I swear I could just freeze you into an ice cube I'm so angry with you" And to the Doctor's complete surprise she gripped the back of his head, pulling his hair tightly and forcing him into a sharp, quick kiss.

"How. How did you get out of the Tardis?"

"It seems that neither of us wanted to see you die Doctor. Not in the name of Arendelle nor in the name of the Doctor. Or any other name for that matter" He absentmindedly took her hands in his, "You have to take these off," she slid his gloves off his hands, "It's all we have left"

"You're right. You're right," he watched as she threw them to the ground, "Elsa"

"Yes Doctor?"

Without a moment of hesitation he kissed her again, "Okay," he looked a little surprised at himself, "That happened..." The Queen stared at him in shock despite her own display of affection. The ice wall she'd created was beginning to crack finally thanks to the continuous blasts from the Cybermen. The Doctor created a swirling snow storm in his palm, "I hope this works"

"Just let it go"

The Doctor stood up tall and unleashed the oncoming snow storm. The endless flood of snowflakes obscured the vision of the majority of the Cybermen though they continued to fire anyway. Elsa trapped half of the robots in an enormous ice globe while the Doctor matched her efforts with the remaining half, the thick ice would keep them busy while he dealt with Hans. The Doctor raced through the storm to the half upgraded former Prince. Through the swirls of snowflakes Elsa caught sight of a shiny glimmering object reflecting from the ice Tardis' doors. With one hand maintaining the prison she'd created she moved for a better look. It was the tiara she'd been given at her coronation. She clearly remembered throwing it away, the Doctor must have swept it up by accident when he'd re-shaped the ice into his own design. Her mind took her instantly back into the Tardis, the Doctor had told her something, something small and insignificant, what was it? Elsa screwed her face in frustration as she tried to recall the Doctor's remark.

"... They don't handle gold too well though..."

Her eyes watched the Doctor raging towards Hans, firing ice shards as he went. The army for now were occupied trying to break through the layers of ice she was constantly laying down. It was a quick decision, but Elsa took her attention off the ice prison and ran to the golden tiara, she pulled and pulled but it was stuck fast. It was going to take a few moments to thaw the ice, it was a long shot, but they were getting desperate. They wouldn't be able to keep the Cybermen contained forever.

Hans continued to dodge the attacks from the Doctor, "How is this possible!?" He puzzled as he skidded out of the way of yet another sharp projectile. Almost upon the former Prince laying on his back in the snow, the Doctor slowed his pace and began to form another piercingly sharp ice shard.

"You tell me," he uttered darkly.

"It's not possible"

"You know, I was integrated as a Cyber-Planner once," the Doctor stood over the defenceless Prince, "You have the resources to figure it out"

"We won't be fooled into using up our processing power again," Hans spit at the ground, "We have no interest in your dirty DNA"

"This magic is the only thing that stops regeneration"

"So you, can't regenerate?"

"Uh-oh," The Doctor realised his error, the globe surrounding the Cybermen burst open unleashing their deadly blasts. His eyes quickly searched for Elsa.

"Doctor!" She yelled launching the golden tiara at him. He'd barely had it in his hand for a second when he saw a rogue blast hit the Queen, she was thrown against the ice Tardis, her limp body fell into the deep snow.

The Doctor found himself blinded by rage, he gripped the golden item. The tiara dug into his hand it almost caused him to bleed, in his anger his vision became distorted and shaky. He leapt on top of the Cyber-Planner ignoring a blast that shot a hole through his billowing jacket. With one hand he pinned Hans down by the throat with the other he repeatedly stabbed through the mechanical left eye socket with the golden tiara and with every irate syllable yelled.

"How... Dare... You... Take... Her... From... Me!"

With the lead component of the Cyberiad damaged beyond repair, Cybermites scuttled out of the open eye socket and down Hans sleeves. They riddled themselves under the Doctor's clothing. He writhed as he became once again upgraded and incorporated into the cyber-consciousness, the cyberiad. He rolled off of Hans' body, fell onto his back in the snow and laughed maniacally.

"I'm home Doctor! You've redecorated, I don't like it! Ohh look! A system failure! How sad that we aren't at full capacity! You'll definitely be interested in what we have to share with you. We can offer you a fix for your broken circuitry"

* * *

In the meeting place of their minds the Doctor stood face to face with Mr Clever, his own contribution to the Cyberiad, "And still we fight over the space in here," he smiled as if greeting an old friend. Clever's eyes gleamed dangerously, the flashing technology fused to his face added to his sinister appearance, "You mentioned a fix?" The Doctor continued as casually as he could manage, "Oh and I'm sorry, about the, you know," he made a stabbing action with his hand.

"Hahaha," Clever cackled, "On the contrary, you freed me Doctor. For now I have this.." He spun around with his arms wide open, "Endless resource! The fast processing mind of a Time Lord. How I've missed this!"

"Hm," the Doctor mused, "It'll all mean nothing when my body dies, enjoy it while it lasts"

"An easy fix," Clever announced, a screen appeared next to him. It was a security feed from on board the lead Cybership. It was a vial of glowing light, on a higher resolution one may even be able to see the particles swirling within the small vessel.

"Is that..?"

"Yes. One free regeneration for our best Cyber-planner. Me!"

"The _both_ of us," the Doctor corrected, "It might take you out if I regenerate though. You'll be burnt to a crisp"

"We have a patch for that now," Clever waved his hand dismissing the Doctor's comment.

"Where did you get the vial?"

"Oh Doctor, from your resting place, of course"

The Doctor glared at Clever, "Show it to me" The Cyber-planner laughed loudly. He moved to hold onto the Doctor's shoulder amidst his crazy cackles.

"I'll need complete motor control for that to happen," he whispered close to the Time Lord's ear.

"Done," the Doctor relinquished control of his movements to Clever.

The Doctor rose from his back in the snow, the Cybermen ceased fire, "Home time boys!" he yelled. In an instant both he and the platoon were beamed into the mother ship of the fleet, leaving the area devoid of anything but a steady falling of snowflakes.

* * *

On board the Tardis everything was deathly silent. Kristoff stared at the lifeless body of the Queen in complete horror.

"He just left her," he uttered. Anna shook her head repeatedly from side to side, the tears knew no limits as they flooded down her face.

"Elsa!" she screamed. She flew to the doors, they held fast and firmly shut as she hammered on them, kicked them, threw herself at them, "Elsa!" Kristoff wrapped his arms around her to calm her, in her complete and utter shock and sorrow she managed to land a few blows on him, if unintentionally. Finally he calmed her enough to sit with her on the floor of the Tardis, simply holding her as she wept for the Queen, her sister; her best friend.


	13. Chapter 13: The fall of Mr Clever

**Chapter 13: The fall of Mr Clever  
**

Being on board the Cybership unsettled the Time Lord.

"What's wrong with you?" Clever asked with his same old dark grin, "Anyone would think you were here against your will with a face like that"

"Oh do be quiet," the Doctor folded his arms, "I just, don't feel quite right. It's hard to know what it is without having any fine control over my body"

"Mr Paranoid. Ooh, I like that. That might just stick"

"_The Doctor came to meet his doom_

_A life was stolen from his tomb…"_

The Doctor, being in the back seat of his motor functions, forced Clever to turn this way and that.

"Now, now Doctor. I said _complete _control"

"Did you hear that?" The Doctor ignored Clever's protests. Clever turned around in the small corridor, two Cybermen stood behind them, acting as their escorts to the storage chamber.

"I didn't hear anything," he spoke out loud, "You hear anything?" he asked the two soldiers.

"Negative" They spoke in unison.

"_The man who lies, who runs, who hides,_

_Will die when silver starts to rise…"_

"I definitely heard something that time," the Doctor took a greater portion of control back to face the other direction in the corridor.

"The Cyber-Planner is overridden. Delete. Delete. Delete"

"No!" Mr Clever shrieked raising his hands to the Cybermen, "It's me you fools. Let us be done with this. The Time Lord is dying, his mind is becoming more insufferable as death approaches. Let's regenerate, steal the Time Machine and leave"

"Clever you have to listen, listen, I can hear them clearly. The voices, the whispers"

"Enough!" Clever screamed, "I'll do you a kindness Doctor, and heal your sick mind"

Mr Clever entered the storage chamber, in the centre of the room stood the laser protected vial of regeneration energy, "Unlock the specimen," Clever commanded clasping his hands together in excitement.

"_A self-sacrifice will not suffice_

_His act will not give life to Ice"_

As his hand hovered over the vial, Mr Clever heard them - the whispers -he turned his head and paused, "What was that?"

"I told you," the Doctor said grumpily.

"Life forms detected. Source unknown" a Cyberman confirmed.

"Where is it coming from?"

"Look closer," the Doctor instructed as he sat back idly. With a fraction more concentration than earlier Clever was able to see them through the Doctor's eyes. Many suited whisper men surrounded them around the edge of the chamber.

"Doctor I require access to information on these things," Clever turned on the spot watching as the Whisper men moved slowly closer, "Now Doctor"

"I'll be needing full motor control in exchange for that area of memory"

"Doctor, now is not the time"

"You'd better hurry then"

With the data on the Whisper men now free to access in the Cyberiad Mr Clever gave control over movement back to the Time Lord, albeit begrudgingly. The Doctor quickly withdrew his sonic screwdriver turning on the spot, the device held at arm's length, warding off the approaching threats. With his free hand he swiped the vial containing the regeneration energy.

"Doctor this was not the deal!" Clever found himself mentally blocked from regaining motor control.

"Release the fleet from Earth's atmosphere," the Doctor had control over the millions of Cybermen occupying the cyber ships, "Engage Safe distance protocol for a level 5 planet. Don't even think about it," he snapped at the closest Whisper man to him. The creature's hand was outstretched to snatch the life right out of him. Fortunately for the Doctor he currently had two occupants in his body. One of which was definitely not required, "I mean it. Stay back, or I'll regenerate, the energy will rip through this ship and destroy everything on board. Including you" He slid the vial slowly into his pocket, tangling his fingers around the vortex manipulator that he carried as a painful reminder of the death of his former wife. She was still saving him to this day, she just never knew it.

"Doctor!" Clever screamed into his ear. The Doctor ignored him completely as he engaged the whisper men at their own game;

_ "If you can you hear the Whisper men, then don't turn away your ear_

_Whispering whispers of the whisper men will try to cause you fear  
Don't try to run, don't try to hide, don't flee their wicked rhyme  
You should never fear them, for they fear me, The Lord of Time__"_

The Doctor leered at the Whisper man that was baring its teeth at him.

"Safe distance achieved. Cyber legion standing by" A Cyber soldier informed him.

The Doctor gave the featureless face an enormous grin, "Cyber legion engage self-destruct program one point one," he commanded before forcing Clever into total control over his mind and body. The icy hand of the whisper man snatched the pure essence of the Cyber-planner straight out of the Time Lord's chest. The Doctor gasped and breathed in deeply as he took Clever's place again. He tried to pull out the vortex manipulator from his pocket, the vial too was pulled out and clattered to the floor. It began to roll away, "Not good!" he yelled throwing himself after it. A foot came crashing down onto glass tube before he could snatch at it. The particles seemed to be sucked straight into the Time Lord's body. The Doctor wasted no time in hurriedly pressing the button on his manipulator, the ship began to explode; the integrating hardware attached to his face sparked in mini explosions from the self-destruct program. In a flash and a pop he'd vanished.

* * *

From Arendelle a distant flood of explosions could be seen in the sky as the fleet self-destructed just outside of the atmosphere. The falling debris gave the impression of hundreds of shooting stars sailing across the sky.

* * *

The Doctor landed in the dense snow outside of the Tardis. He coughed and spluttered but wasted no time in clambering clumsily to his feet. His eyes searched for the Queen; he just hoped that he wasn't too late.

"Elsa!" he cried skidding to his knees beside her in the snow. He looked a sight with the damaged cyber circuitry hanging from his face but he couldn't have cared less for his appearance as he carefully took her face in his hands. He was forced to release her as the beginnings of regeneration caused his hands to glow a familiar golden colour. Time was running out. He desperately searched for even the faintest hint of a pulse - there was none. It was now or never.

He pressed his lips against her ice cold ones. The regeneration particles swept into her body. The glow in the Doctor's hands subsided. He withdrew from the kiss, his eyes searched for a change, even a tiny hint of one. His disappointment continued, nothing happened. Elsa remained lifeless beside him. He tucked a stray strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

"No," his bottom lip quivered, "Please, no"

A massive pulse rippled through his body, it threw him back into the snow. The Doctor gripped his chest tightly, the pain was unworldly. He curled into a ball writhing in agony. Then suddenly, his second heart began to beat. It joined in the dancing rhythm of his right heart; but it was not enough to console the heartbroken Time Lord. He covered his face with his hands and wept. Why was he given life when Elsa was not? He ripped the Cyber circuitry from himself in temper, it caused some blood to trickle down his face where the wiring had parted his skin. He returned to Elsa's side and held her hand. Nothing of the golden energy remained. The Doctor squeezed her hand, willing life into her.

"Please live," he begged her, "Please"

The Tardis released the deadlock from its doors allowing its reluctant guests a way out. Anna was the first through the door, flying across the snow to reach her sister, "Look at what you've done!" she screamed at the Doctor hammering her fists on him wherever she could reach. Kristoff dragged her off the dazed Time Lord. His brown eyes looked sadly down at the Queen.

"She was never meant to leave the Tardis," the Doctor's voice cracked, "Why did she have to leave the Tardis?"

"Don't you dare blame my sister! She was trying to help you!"

"Guys," Olaf interrupted, he was at Elsa's side, "What's that?" He pointed at a swirl of faint glowing golden particles escaping the Queen's parted lips.

"Quickly, Kristoff, help me to get her into the Tardis, we need to get her back to Arendelle"

"Is she going to be okay?" Anna asked as the pair carried her lifeless sister into the Tardis.

"I don't know how her magic will interact with the regeneration process," the Doctor replied, "It may take some time, quite a long time, with lots of tea, and fish fingers and custard"


	14. Chapter 14: Time heals all wounds

**Chapter 14: Time heals all wounds  
**

"Doctor she's burning up," Anna had scooped up some snow into her cloak and was using it as an ice pack to press against Elsa's forehead.

"Yeah, that'll happen," the Doctor replied rushing around the console setting co-ordinates for the palace, "Keep her as cool as possible" Olaf huddled as close to Elsa's body as possible, his use as a giant ice pack being more obvious now. The Tardis chimed out indicating its landing. "Okay," the Doctor forced the handbrake on and rushed to the Queen, "Let's get her tucked into bed," he picked her up in his arms. Kristoff held the door wide open allowing the Doctor to rush past with the Queen.

"Oh my, Queen Elsa! Doctor what happened to her?" The staff gasped as the Doctor rushed past them and up the staircase.

"No time!" He called over his shoulder as he disappeared onto the second floor. The Doctor laid her down on top of the duvet of her bed. A palm to her forehead confirmed to him the raging temperature that she had, "Hold on Elsa," he told her, "It'll be okay" His stomach lurched as the words left his mouth; he honestly had no idea if she'd survive this.

"Doctor can't you cool the room down or something?" Anna appeared in the doorway, Kristoff was close behind her.

"I don't have Elsa's power anymore"

"Why not?" the fiery Princess demanded.

"There's no magic left in me, My heart thawed when I gave my life up for Elsa,"

"… But you're alive," Anna put her hands on her hips. Her statement silently demanded a reason for the Doctor so clearly being alive and for her sister being halfway to death.

"One of my lives," the Doctor muttered quietly.

"Doctor what happened out there?" the ice mason interrupted, "You were acting really crazy, I mean like, really crazy," Kristoff put a protective arm around Anna's shoulders.

The Doctor sighed a heavy sigh, "They uh," he rubbed his eyes with a hand as he tried to think of the words to explain himself, "The Cybermen, they're machines and they, it's hard to explain, they require a high speed processor. It's the thing that makes them think better, faster, improving their tactics and understanding. They need to have a vast amount of knowledge and processing speed to provide to millions of Cyber-units across the galaxy," his eyes wandered down to look at Elsa, another casualty of his life, "They must have followed the trail of the Tardis and found Hans, the human brain is a powerful machine. He was an ideal candidate to be upgraded to a Cyber-planner, but I never meant for him to become their prisoner. Anyway, a Time Lord's mind is far, far superior to that of a human; when I killed their Cyber-Planner, they incorporated me instead. I'm always going to be the most desirable candidate no matter who else is in the room," the Doctor showed them the bloody wound down the side of his face, "Their cyber-consciousness showed me the regeneration energy that they had stolen straight out of my grave"

"You have a grave?" Kristoff held on even tighter to Anna's shoulders.

"We all have a grave waiting for us out there somewhere in the future," the Doctor replied calmly, "The problem is that my tomb is under close watch by my enemies. They all really, really want to get to what's inside. It's the most, powerful force imaginable, they could change the whole universe if they got their hands on it. When the Cybermen stole one of my lives they never realised that they were followed; the Whisper men knew they'd come and find me. They only want me to open the doors though, they're not interested in regeneration particles..."

"So that," Anna pointed to the golden glow that Elsa seemed to be exhaling at irregular intervals, "That is one of your lives?"

"Yes, it's part of the energy left over from when I regenerated, no idea which one it's from though. It'll definitely heal someone human, it'll be like nothing ever happened to them; and life can be restored to someone who hasn't been gone for very long"

"But Elsa has ice powers," The ice mason interjected.

"Yes, she does. So I don't know what's going to happen. The process may take longer, it may happen quicker," he looked up at the duo, "It may not work at all, but she's definitely burning up and that's a good sign. It means_ something_ is happening"

* * *

The Snow Queen remained unconscious in her bed for many weeks, the Doctor rarely left her side unless her sister Anna insisted that he rest himself. He would disappear in his Tardis for a few hours at a time, probably to drift amongst the stars Anna assumed. No one questioned his need to escape, the hurt on his face was clear every time he looked at Elsa.

Anna recalled clearly the day he returned wearing a new suit and sporting a whole new demeanour, the cloud of guilt and despair had vanished, "It's today, right now," he'd told the Princess confidently. They perched themselves each side of the Queen on her bed. The Doctor leaned in closer, the golden particles no longer presented themselves in her breath. Anna inhaled sharply as Elsa's eyelids fluttered. The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief; it had worked.

The weary Queen blinked slowly up at Anna and the Doctor. The Princess took her sisters hand tightly in hers, "Elsa, it's me Anna, you had a little accident. But it's okay, you're going to be okay. Isn't she Doctor?"

The Doctor stroked the Queen's hair affectionately seeing a weak smile spread across her lips at hearing his name, "She's going to be better than okay," he said quietly, "She's going to be amazing"

* * *

The Doctor straightened his bow tie carefully, in light of him becoming more like part of the furniture in Arendelle he'd decided to adhere to the official colours of the kingdom by donning his long purple coat. His hair was combed perfectly into place, and his new pocket watch, a gift from the Queen, hung neatly from its place on his waistcoat, the snowflake engraving caught the light beautifully.

He stood proudly beside the Queen's throne. Since her life had been restored by the regeneration particles she had not had the strength to leave the palace. It had taken her a long time to gather the energy to make it out of her room; but with the Doctor to aid her, her slow recovery progressed. She currently occupied the throne, pale and weak, reading through the outraged letters she'd received from her ex-trading partners. She sighed and handed them back to the messenger, "I don't wish to offer a response to these, archive them please, thank you"

"Yes your majesty"

Elsa rubbed her temples, "Will this headache ever go away?" She asked the Time Lord beside her, "And don't you want to sit down? You make me feel nervous when you stand there so still"

"I'll make you a cup of tea, it always helps me after I've gone through a regeneration"

"No," she replied sharply, "I mean, it's okay, you don't have to do that Doctor"

"You're almost as awkward as you were at your coronation," he raised his eyebrows casually at her.

"What would you know about my coronation?" She eyed him with vague suspicion.

"I love dancing on special occasions you can't keep me away from a good party. You've been ill for so long. I needed to be active; to be doing. I couldn't help myself, I couldn't help myself quite a few times actually. I've even danced at your wedding already"

"Doctor I'm not married yet," Elsa protested.

"But you will be"

"I definitely don't remember you being at my coronation Doctor"

"But I'm in the photos," the Doctor almost succeeded in looking hurt, "You remember having photos taken don't you? Before the party started? It was no more than an hour after you'd been sworn in, the guests were in the backdrop..."

Elsa opened the small chest of documents beside her throne, under the pile of papers inside she pulled out the photograph that she'd previously hoped never to lay eyes on again. The Doctor stood at her shoulder, "Look carefully"

Elsa looked past her own awkward expression staring out at her and past Anna's massive grin, "Oh my... Doctor!" She couldn't believe her eyes as she pointed at the photograph, "There you are! My goodness look at you!" At the back right hand side of the crowd the Doctor could clearly be seen in his purple coat, wearing his best fez, grinning widely and raising a glass over his head.

"Look even closer than that," he laughed guiding her finger to point a few people to the left of him. Elsa gasped.

"No," she dropped the photograph as if it had caught fire, "What did you do to this picture?"

"Nothing," he replied innocently, and truthfully for once.

"Those are my parents in that photograph," she could feel her magic surfacing in temper, "Doctor you've changed that photo, and I don't mind saying that it is _not_ in good taste. My parents died, a long time ago at sea"

"Yeah...," the Doctor clasped his hands together nervously twisting his fingers together, "About that..."

"Doctor..." Her tone was not to be messed with.

"There might be something that I have to tell you... Actually, come to think of it, a lot of somethings. I did try to tell you…"

"This is to do with your broken watch isn't it? I remember you were going to tell me about it…"

"Maybe…"

"Doctor, what have you done?"

The Doctor swallowed hard, "Well, it's like this"


	15. Chapter 15: When time was rewritten

**Chapter 15: When time was rewritten  
**

The Doctor found time to twirl his way back up to the console. He turned off the security feed without giving it a glance, which had been showing Hans being beamed up before his new followers could reach him. He flicked the monitor back to the scan of Elsa he'd taken much earlier. He pushed his glasses onto his face and squinted hard at the data swirling around her figure. No matter how hard he concentrated he could find no hint of magic within her, it was extraordinary. He thought about all that she'd shared with him when they'd met, about her childhood, the death of her parents, becoming of age and suddenly finding herself having to rule without guidance. His mind couldn't help but focus on her vulnerability, the fear and hopelessness that had driven her up the North Mountain on her coronation night. He wondered, in his own way, if he could remove some of that hurt. The Doctor slid his glasses back into his pocket and rested his chin in his hand. He could think of only one thing that he could do that wouldn't drastically interfere with all that had happened. It would cause a mild tear in the fabric of reality; it was dangerous but achievable. It wasn't like he hadn't stomped all over the rules before in his lives. He'd burned up whole stars just to say his farewells, he'd almost burned New York to a crisp trying to land his Tardis just to reach his wife, no, wait, ex-wife. He cringed to himself, god that prefix hurt like hell. He would kill for someone to rewrite time for him, he'd just have to make do with doing it for someone else.

"Don't do it," he told himself firmly, "You don't interfere. You'll regret it, you will. You always do. You'll hate yourself" he threw himself onto the sofa. He didn't really understand what he felt for Elsa, was he just being protective? Or was his ancient DNA betraying him and causing him to feel something more. Every time he closed his eyes he would see the scared expression she'd worn the night he'd landed in her retreat. He never wanted to see it again, he never wanted to see the fear behind her eyes, he never wanted her to feel how she'd felt for her whole life up until now. He couldn't fix everything but he could remove a portion of the sadness from her life, he could take it from Anna's too. He could kill two birds with one stone, or rather, let two live with one Tardis. The Doctor's conscience couldn't let him just rip reality apart for every sad face he saw though, he laid back across the cold leather and soniced the console. A hologram of himself appeared and stood tall, "It's a bad idea isn't it?" He asked the projection.

"Fixed points cannot be rewritten"

"But really the only implication of the fixed point is that they can't return to the kingdom"

"Fixed points cannot be written" the self-projection seemed to be more stern with him.

"Of course no one would ever be able to know, it would be our little secret," he told the hologram, "It would make her happy," the Doctor gripped his hair tightly and pulled hard, "Fixed points can be rewritten, some of them, maybe one or two in a billion"

"Don't you dare"

The Doctor's heart twisted into a knot, it was a sentence he absolutely tried to avoid thinking about since River's death. He couldn't let anyone else feel the empty void he felt every single day since losing her. Death was cruel, not to those whom death consumed but to those it left unscathed. The Doctor was always spared by death, his friends however, were not. His fist scrunched his bow tie tightly, he was the Doctor, and Doctor's made things better. In that instant his decision was made, he frowned at the projection of himself, "I_ really_ don't who you are sometimes," the Doctor leapt up, cancelled the hologram and set a new course. A round trip shouldn't take too long, after all, he was in a time machine, "Five minutes Elsa, and I'll be back for you" He pulled the dematerialisation lever hard; and hung on tightly as the Tardis rocked and manoeuvred its way skilfully through the time vortex. It chimed its familiar ring as it landed. The Time Lord snapped the handbrake on and ran to the doors as he so often did. He tore them wide open and was drenched instantly in the salty spray of the ocean. For the first time in forever he'd landed exactly where he'd intended, not even a few meters from him the King and Queen were huddled low on the drenched deck, even from inside the Tardis the Doctor could feel the height of the waves battling against the ship, "Your highness!" The Doctor yelled, "Your highness!"

The Queen spotted the Doctor first and nudged her husband frantically. The Doctor held his hand out firmly, as a gesture of aid, "Come with me!" He insisted. Another high wave crashed onto the deck, time was running out, and this was a trip that could only be taken once. The Doctor hoped that the Tardis doors would remain open as he dashed out onto the deck to help the royal duo, "I don't have time to explain, I'm a friend of Elsa's. I'm a time traveller. I'm here to help you, quickly!" Before they could run a large wave crashed over them. The Doctor found himself being washed almost overboard, the battling of the sea was relentless, he clung to the wooden rail for dear life as a second and third wave washed over him, "I am far too old for this," he grumbled throwing himself back on board using the swaying of the ship to propel him. He dragged the Queen by her arm back towards the Tardis, the King close behind. Once inside the Doctor slammed the door shut and flicked the catch, the last thing he needed was a leak, the ship was probably already overturning, "I'm sorry about your crew. This was a one-time trip, I couldn't save everyone," he strode past them to the console and pulled down the big lever. Seeming to dismiss the impossible around her the Queen broke away from her husband's embrace and ventured closer to her saviour. The Doctor twisted the bottom of his untucked shirt letting the sea water splash onto the floor. He balled his fist around his bow tie also causing it to weep salt water.

"Are you taking us home to our daughters?" She asked, still visibly shaking from both cold and shock. The Doctor shook his head sadly.

"I can't do that" He pushed his soaking hair back the best he could as he turned to face them.

"Why not?" The King demanded.

"Because you were supposed to die on that ship. Your bodies lost forever to the sea. The Elsa that I know, the one I've done this for, will never come to exist if I take you back"

"The Elsa you know?"

"Yes the one from your future. Queen Elsa. The Snow Queen of Arendelle" The Doctor tapped his gold wrist watch, he shook his wrist rapidly, droplets of water fell from it, but the watch face was brimming with water that he would never be able to shake out, "Damnit," he complained, "But I love this watch"

The Queen gasped, "He knows of her powers!"

"Everyone knows of her powers" The Doctor frowned, "Like," he squinted as he tried to calculate the number of people who knew, "Everyone," he decided finally.

"She can't control it?" The King had a look of genuine concern.

"She can control it just fine, and she's wonderful," the Doctor told him, "She's adored by the people" The pair looked at each other, a mixture of happiness and apprehension, "Now look, I can't take you back to Arendelle, but I can drop you off somewhere else. You'll have to promise that you'll live off radar, no one can know that you survived, and I mean, no one. Another thing, you definitely, cannot walk around dressed like that" Their royal dress was pretty obvious now that they stopped to look at it, "I have plenty of clothes here, take anything you need"

"Will we ever see them again Doctor?"

The Doctor didn't reply, he set a course for a land across the ocean, an island he knew well. A place he treasured more than any other. The home of all his beloved companions – England.

* * *

"So," he tossed them a fairly heavy bag of coins, "Here's some money to start you off," he peered into the bag, "Is it a lot of money? It looks like a lot of money. Never really had a need for any, if it's not enough then you can use this. I'm sure they'll invent a cash machine at some point," he tucked one of his debit cards into the Kings top pocket and tapped his nose knowingly, "Follow me," he slipped out of the Tardis. Outside the air was fresh, the sun was beating down, and the vineyard they were stood in was beautiful. A worker not too far away tending the vines waved and yelled.

"Good day to you Lord Doctor, you've returned to fine tune the flavours for this season?"

"Not today!" the Doctor waved back, "I'm just dropping off the new owners! I know you'll look after them!" The Doctor turned back to the King and Queen, "I bought this place about fifty years ago," he told them quietly, "It's yours; and you _must_ accept this gift from me, it's the least I can do," he sensed the King readying to protest the lavish gift, "I'm sorry that I can't return you to your kingdom but I've broken all the rules of time just to keep you alive"

"We're grateful," the King shook the Doctor's hand firmly. A puddle was forming around the Time Lord as his clothes still dripped with salty ocean water, "Thank you, just, please watch over our daughters, especially Elsa"

The Doctor saluted, "Yes your majesty," he promised and began his retreat back into the Tardis.

"Doctor please wait," the Queen called before the door clicked shut. The Doctor popped his head around the door frame.

"Yes your majesty?" he replied politely.

"I've only one wish Doctor"

"Of course," he smiled, "And what would that be?"

* * *

_**Three years later...**_

* * *

The Tardis landed exactly where he'd promised to land it, at the exact time that he'd specified. The Doctor opened the door and hopped out, he'd obviously had a haircut. His long purple jacket, black trousers, blue shirt purple bow tie and grey waistcoat actually looked smart. He beamed up at the former King and Queen.

"I'm here!" He announced, "Are we all ready?"

The former Arendelle rulers were indeed ready. They donned the best clothing that period of England had to offer. In her hands the Queen clutched a scrunched up brown paper bag, obviously unable to find anything as luxurious as she might have back in Arendelle, "What's that?" The Doctor asked cheerily.

"Oh just, um, I didn't know if you'd be able to give these to the girls, it seems such a shame that they'll never be seen again otherwise," the Queen with shaking hands passed the bag to the Doctor. Inside was all their old worldly possessions, their jewellery, and their crowns. The Doctor looked up into their eager faces and didn't have the heart to refuse.

"I will personally put them into Elsa's hands," he promised, "Now then, shall we?" He allowed them to enter the Tardis before him. He could hear their gasps as they entered, he grinned to himself before following them.

* * *

Children ran around the market place, green and purple decorations were seen on every available surface Arendelle had to offer.

"The Queen has come of age!" A woman beamed down to a small girl.

"I'm so excited they're finally opening up the gates!"

"And for a whole day! Quickly we don't want to miss it!"

The King and Queen stepped out of the Tardis with the Doctor. The sun beamed down, happy chatter surrounded them, and everyone had made an effort however small for Queen Elsa's coronation. The Doctor could see her mother tearing up beside him, he offered her a tissue before leading them on, "Where will the crowning happen?"

"This way," the King led the way into the bustling crowds.

They managed to find seats right at the back of the modest Church of Arendelle for Elsa's crowning, "Oh she's so beautiful," the Queen whispered watching the blonde turn to the gathering holding the sceptre and orb tightly, "Ohh and look at my little Anna all grown up" The Doctor smiled at Elsa's focused yet detached expression as he watched her fighting off her powers. The Queen grabbed his arm suddenly, "Thank you for this Doctor"

"It's okay," he told her quietly, "We are going to the party though aren't we? Because I only came for the dancing" The pair chuckled at his innocent honesty.

* * *

The Doctor grabbed a flute of champagne as they entered the ballroom for the celebration. The Royal photographer had his camera set up beside Elsa's throne, his lens aimed out over the ballroom, "Stand just here your majesty," he instructed the newly crowned Elsa, "And Princess," he guided Anna to stand beside her sister. He then proceeded to order the guests in the background to squeeze into the picture, "A little closer everyone"

"Something doesn't feel right," the Doctor pondered scratching his head, "Oh!" grabbed the red fez from the short stocky gentlemen in front of him then leapt into the air, his glass raised above him with the biggest grin he owned. The camera flashed, and the crowd cheered.

The music started up, the guests happily flooded the ballroom floor. The Queen and Princess would be introduced officially later, as of yet Elsa had to sign many documents before she could re-join the party. The Doctor circulated the guests, finding the punch bowl to be the best place to hover to become involved in the most interesting conversations.

"And then, you wouldn't believe it… He cut my hair and the whole thing just turned brown, just like that!" the short haired, slightly intoxicated brunette clicked her fingers to emphasise her point.

"Really?" the Doctor smiled taking another sip from his glass, "Sounds magical"

"Okay, I think that's enough punch for you," her date laughed leading her away from the highly amused Time Lord. At that moment he caught sight of a distressed looking woman being dragged around the dance floor by a rather short, old, toupée sporting gentleman.

"That is absolutely _not_ dancing," the Doctor informed the nimble Duke of Weselton as he cut in and rescued the exhausted looking woman.

"How dare you! Don't you know who I am?" the angry man cried shaking his fist as the Doctor twirled his way into the crowd with his new dancing companion.

The gate crashing of Elsa's coronation was a short lived but enjoyable affair. Before the Queen could return to the party the Doctor gathered his fellow un-invited guests and ushered them out into the corridor where his Tardis was hidden behind one of the long drapes, "I'm sorry but that's as much as we can see of the celebrations. Time needs to run its own course from here"

The Queen hugged the surprised Time Lord suddenly, "You're a wonderful man. I hope Elsa finds someone just like you" The Doctor felt his cheeks burn.

"Oh, I, well, thank you"

Over the Queen's shoulder he saw the King staring at him, he had a knowing twinkle in his eye that unnerved the Doctor slightly, "What did you say you were again?"

"I'm a Time Lord"

"A Lord," the King smiled at the Doctor, "See dear, this man is more than suitable to help in ruling Arendelle"

The longest, most awkward silence stretched out following the King's comment, the Doctor scratched his head then decided to surface from his embarrassment.

"Okay then," he clapped his hands together, "Better get you two back home, I need to get back to… Uh, whatever I was doing before," He carefully dodged finishing his sentence before he accidently revealed the future to the couple.

The pair waved the Tardis off from the doorway of their new home. The Doctor sighed a heavy but happy sigh watching their excited faces waving him off on the Tardis monitor.

He'd probably end up regretting this disruption in time, but for now, he disregarded all thoughts of the consequences and grinned proudly at himself. So very often he left destruction in his wake but this time, this time he would fix everything before he left. Helping Elsa's recovery was the last thing he needed to oversee.

"I'm coming for you Elsa," He twirled around and slammed down the dematerialisation lever.


	16. Chapter 16: Consequences

**Chapter 16: Consequences**

"It's really not as bad it seems," the Doctor whimpered under the withering glares of the Arendelle sisters.

"Our parents have been alive this whole time. _This whole time_!" Anna yelled at him her temper flared. Elsa put her face in her hand. She was so angry with him she couldn't even look at him anymore.

"Why…," she removed her hand briefly and shook her head in dismay, "Didn't you say something?"

The Doctor held his hands out, "But I did! I mean, I tried to, and I swear to you Elsa, I only did it because I thought you'd be happy! They're alive"

"They're in England!" Anna frowned at him, the lines on her brow became more prominent.

"Yes and _they're alive_, did I mention that?"

"What are we going to do?" Elsa looked across to her sister, in her upset with the Doctor she seemed to have lost her ability to fully process her thoughts. She looked at her little sister hoping that she'd have an answer.

"We'll ready our ship and go to England," Anna snapped now losing patience with her sister, as if her answer was the only conclusion that anyone could arrive at.

"He's disrupted time Anna. You don't know that us seeing them is even safe," she turned to the Doctor, her eyes weary, "Well is it?"

"Is it what?" The Doctor looked up from his daze.

"Is it safe Doctor? Can we safely see our parents?"

He shrugged casually, "Well, I suppose so. Of course it's possible"

Elsa shot Anna a meaningful stare, "I want to go and see them," the younger sibling folded her arms.

"Well let's go then," Elsa rose from her seat.

"Um," the Doctor raised his hand as a child might in a classroom, "Little help? And can I please have my sonic back," he lowered his voice, "I feel naked without it"

Anna stared at him blankly for a moment, "I did not need to know that" She left the Queen helping the Doctor where he stood frozen to the floor in a block of ice. His screwdriver was also frozen, encased a few feet away from him. Elsa's had the frostiest temper the Doctor had been witness to. He couldn't help but smile, even in anger she was gentle with him, not even a scratch marked his skin as he stood before her.

"I'd do it myself but, you know," he wiggled his fingers, "I've lost my ice powers" Elsa rolled her eyes at him; he shrugged cheekily at her. She thawed the ice she'd thrown at him in her upset.

"I'm sorry for freezing you to the floor," she sighed as he scrambled to pick his sonic up out of the puddle it was left in; he shook the droplets from it erratically.

"Oh don't be silly," he brushed himself down and stood beside her, "You were angry with me. And you had every right to be. I only did it because I didn't want to see you hurting anymore"

Elsa smiled at his silly face, she loved how he cared, even though he had no idea how to translate his care into the world in a human way. He looked up at her sheepishly.

"Can you forgive me Elsa?"

"Doctor I forgave you before you even opened your mouth about the whole thing. I know you were trying to do us a kindness," her blue eyes captured his full attention, "People don't normally change history for me, it's not really something I'm used to"

The Doctor chuckled and grinned a toothy grin at her, "Don't get too used to it," he put a hand up to her cheek. Elsa's heart raced, he could feel its powerful rhythm as he leaned towards her; her parted lips invited him closer.

"Do I need anything else?" Anna barged back into the throne room. The pair pulled apart. Behind her Anna dragged an enormous and heavy looking trunk. She wore her winter clothes, gloves, a scarf wrapped around her neck topped off with a garish purple hat, "Its cold in England right? It's got crazy weather, I read that somewhere in a book"

The pair burst into uncontrollable laughter at the sight of her, "What?" she asked as she dropped the trunk at her feet.

"We'll be going in the Tardis Anna," Elsa giggled, "You won't need to pack so extensively" Anna stared from the duo to the stationary blue Time Machine stood in the corner.

"Oh. Oh right, of course. I mean. I knew that"

* * *

"Now look," the Doctor clasped his hands together, "I shouldn't really do this..."

Elsa put a hand on his shoulder, "Doctor you don't have to take us there if you don't want to," she shot a glare at Anna who was practically about to explode in fury, "We're grateful that you spared them at all. Aren't we Anna?"

Anna frowned at her sister, fiercely fighting off an onslaught of tears, she really wanted to see her mother and father. Why was Elsa doing this to her? The way she looked at her, it was like she didn't care if she never saw them again. The Doctor's head jerked up as a thunderbolt of a thought struck him out of the blue, "I have something that I need to give to you two," he leapt up the staircase, he was just about to disappear into a corridor that would take him further into his Time Machine when he added, "Stay there, I'll be back in a minute, don't move"

Anna took the opportunity to confront her sister, "What are you doing? Telling him that he doesn't have to take us to them. Of course he has to!" Elsa raised her hand calmly to stop Anna's outburst but her annoyed sister continued, "I thought they were dead Elsa, _we_ thought they were dead! I cried for weeks, for months. It hurt, so badly. I was even more alone than I was before. You wouldn't even come out of your room, not even to say goodbye to them. It was horrible. He owes us this Elsa, he didn't even tell us. I _want_ to see them again"

"Enough Anna," Elsa cut her off from proceeding with her ravings, "The Doctor has done a dangerous thing. Our parents were meant to die. Would you behave like this if he hadn't saved them, knowing that he had the ability to do so? You can't be angry with the man who made a choice. He's risked a lot to give them life. You should be satisfied that they're alive at all. They're well and happy," she put her hands on Anna's shoulders, "Anna, they're alive, why doesn't it fill your heart with joy?"

Anna had no words for her sister, she still felt betrayed by whatever space age spell the Doctor had cast upon the Queen to make her take his side. It wasn't fair. Nothing about this was fair. The lanky strip of a space man reappeared, striding his bow legged stride down to them, a brown paper bag in his hand, "I'm supposed to give this to you" He forced it gently into Elsa's hand and turned to perform his console routine.

Elsa pulled out her mother's crown, she gasped. It was immediately snatched from her grip, along with the bag by Anna. The girl dropped to the floor in a flood of sobs much to Elsa's complete shock.

"Anna, what are you…"

"I just want to see them Elsa!" Anna wailed hugging the bag and crown tightly, "I miss them so much!"

"Anna," Elsa's tone was growing impatient with her over emotional sibling, she rubbed her temples. She was still weak from her recovery; and Anna was truly testing the limits of her patience. The Queen glanced helplessly at the Doctor. He'd been piloting the Tardis during this small outburst; he pulled the lever Elsa knew to be the one that landed the Time Machine and stared at her with a firm determination.

"Come on," he strode to Anna and pulled her swiftly to her feet. He pried the gold crown from her fingers and settled it back amongst the other items, "You can see them as often as you like," he told the young Princess, "It's just that, you'll always have to travel here to meet with them, the temporal flux it would cause if they went to Arendelle is," he shivered, "Unimaginable" He planted a firm kiss on Anna's forehead, "Go and see them"

As Anna left the Tardis the Doctor felt Elsa's stare upon him, "What are the implications of this?" she asked him refusing to break her line of vision with him.

"Nothing you need to worry about," he replied turning his back to her and fiddling with the switches in front of him.

"You know that I don't believe you, don't you?"

The Doctor shook his head, "It doesn't matter if you believe me, or you don't," he turned around to face his beautifully pale skinned Snow Queen, "Time is precious Elsa. Don't waste it worrying. Go and be with your family, it doesn't last forever" He turned his back to her once more, busying his hands with useless levers and switches, and typing absolutely nothing into the typewriter at his side. When he heard the door click shut he exhaled a long slow breath. He sniffed up, fighting off the surge of emotion that consumed him when Elsa was around, and flicked on the monitor. The Tardis was scanning the rip in reality he'd caused; the trip he'd taken to take the couple to the coronation had extended it by a whole two percent. Bringing the sisters along had caused its size to increase by another ten percent. The Doctor dropped his head, his hand held onto the power dial, "I knew this was going to end badly," he muttered letting his fingers switch the dial to 'off'.

* * *

Many subsequent visits to England had taken place every Friday since the first time the Arendelle sisters had embraced their parents in the foreign land. The Doctor never protested in taking the short hops across the water in the Tardis despite the growing hole in reality. He'd even stopped measuring its growth on the last few trips; too ashamed to look upon what he'd done.

Elsa, unlike her sister, had only agreed to take the trip twice; the Doctor's vacant expression around the palace was concerning her greatly. She could sense that something was wrong; she didn't dare ask him what it was. The man seemed so lost in his thoughts, his smile had lost its edge and the twinkle was gone from his eye.

At that moment they were alone in the throne room. The Queen was quietly reading while the Doctor, as he so often did, paced up and down beside her. She would occasionally lift her eyes from the page to watch his back as he walked. She so badly wanted to know what was bothering him; nothing she said to him seemed to reach him.

* * *

_He had to fix the tear, he had to, but how on earth was he going to explain that to Princess Anna? How was he going to explain to the former monarchs that could no longer see their daughters whom they had only just rekindled their relationship with? Time was running out. I nthe beginning he hadn't planned on being in Arendelle for so long. His hearts raced every time he thought of the rupture he'd caused; he'd broken intergalactic law. Matter would be able to leak through into this reality from god knows where. What if it got so big that something bigger could get through, something quite a lot bigger? A big something that could threaten the entire universe. Good god he had to fix it. He'd modify the Tardis circuitry so that it could repair the hole, but that could take weeks. He could tell Anna that the Tardis was broken and needed fixing. Yes. That would buy him time, and the tear wouldn't open further, brilliant. Clever Doctor. Genius Doctor. Inside he praised his quick thinking._

As he turned on his heel to continue his pacing, his eyes fell on Elsa sat quietly on her throne. He couldn't help but smile, just the sight of her calmed him. She'd frozen herself onto his heart; quite literally. He'd found her at her most vulnerable, he'd brought her back to life, and she was wonderful, so, so wonderful. As he neared her he laid a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Can I, stay with you, for a bit longer?" The Doctor sat himself on the step beside her throne, "You can say no, I just, I don't think I'm ready to leave, just yet" He glanced at her quickly not wanting to hold her gaze for a second too long.

"I'm not ready for you to leave either Doctor," Elsa stroked his soft hair as he lent his head against her knee.

"Elsa?"

"Yes Doctor?"

"I really think that I love…"

The blue flash of a time portal knocked the words right out of him. The Doctor scrambled to his feet, he stood in front of the Queen, his arm out to shield her from the silhouettes that stepped out of the portal gateway. The Doctor recognised the platoon immediately; he'd seen those massive horns before, the faces of rhinos. Six Judoon stood before him, guns aimed at him, their laser sights aimed directly on his hearts. One approached and flashed a scanner into the Doctor's eyes, he blinked the spots out of his vision as it read the reading and proceeded to address him.

"Time Lord you are under arrest for the violation of Article 47 of the Shadow Proclamation"

The Doctor raised his hands over his head, "You found me then," he tried to find the humour in the whole scenario. He turned to look at Elsa's horrified expression, "Don't worry," he told her, "Everything will be okay"


	17. Chapter 17: All things end

**Chapter 17: All things end**

The Judoon platoon leader grabbed the Doctor roughly by the arm and forced him harshly to his knees. The Doctor winced but never once fought back.

"Doctor, what are these things?" Elsa rose from her throne watching the armed rhino-like creature securing the Time Lord with the strangest handcuffs she'd ever seen.

"They're the space police, but don't worry Elsa. Everything will be fine. I've just, you know, been a bad Time Lord," he joked trying to make light of the situation. He gave her a weak smile in an attempt to keep her calm though the tight hold on him really made him want to cry out in agony.

"Doctor, what have you done?" She shook her head helplessly, staring down at the man she'd come to feel so much for. She almost felt dizzy from the emotions swirling around inside her. The Doctor saw the ice forming in her open palm.

"Don't," he warned her, "It's not worth it, I'll be fine, just let them take me"

"Why have they come for you? Tell me what you've done, what is article forty seven?"

"Nothing that I'll get executed for, hopefully, I just, I maybe ripped a hole in the fabric of reality when I saved your parents, and it's been growing ever since, now things can get through that could threaten the universe," Elsa glared furiously at him, "Oh come on!" He groaned, "It was worth it! Wasn't it? To see them again?"

"It would never have come to this if you'd just told me what was going on!"

"Elsa, I just wanted you to be happy"

"You, you're just so, so," Elsa couldn't for the life of her get a full sentence out in her frustration, "You're a sentimental idiot!"

The Judoon keyed in their teleport. The Doctor was frozen by Elsa's words, "I'm a sentimental...?" He stared into her blue eyes, the Judoon were not patient creatures, they activated their teleport wristwatches, the Doctor vanished with captors in a blinding pulse.

Elsa remained stood staring at the spot in which the Doctor had been kneeling. In a burst of adrenaline she ran towards the Tardis stood just to her left, just as her hand landed on the door handle the great blue box began to glow. The handle became unbearably hot, forcing the Queen to snatch her hand away quickly. In an instant it was gone, gone with the Doctor and all he had stood for. Elsa could feel the emptyness creep back into her heart, she staggered back to her throne clutching her chest tightly, as she lowered herself into her seat she felt the sobs rise and overcome her. Her Doctor was gone.

* * *

He awoke to the thunderous roars of the storm outside his window. The Doctor scrambled to his feet, his footsteps echoed on the solid stone floor. He gripped the cold metal bars that filled the space in the window. There was only one place in the universe where the weather was so utterly horrendous - he was in the Storm Cage facility, the prison planet. He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against the cold metal bars willing for this to be a bad dream.

"You're awake then?" A voice echoed around over the loud drizzle from outside. The Doctor's head pricked up at the sound. The rich tones, the subtle suggestiveness saved only for his ears, the smirk that laced every syllable. He moved to the wall to his left, pressed his cheek flat against its cool surface, his palm rubbed the stone that separated them.

"River?"

"They reserved that cell just for you, you know" Her voice was like a thousand sunrises. The Doctor felt his heart racing, the tears brimmed up and no matter how much effort he exerted he couldn't manage to stop them from rolling down his cheeks, "I hope you aren't crying my love"

"No," he lied forcefully rubbing the streaks from his face, "I've developed a few allergies since the last time we..."

"Liar," her voice teased through the cement, "What did you do this time?"

"Ripped a hole in reality"

"Ohh, you bad boy, you could have collapsed the universe. You'll only do a hundred years for that though. Lucky thing. Try being in here for life"

The Doctor grinned to himself, "You won't spend every moment in here, and you know it"

"Spoilers sweetie"

"It's so good to hear you say that," he breathed, "Promise that you'll never stop saying that to me"

"Doctor. Are you okay?"

He was silent for a long time. The Doctor rubbed his cheek against the cement, he pictured her blonde curls, her full lips, the holstered blaster she always had strapped to her thigh. He'd give up all his regenerations just to have her blast his fez into pieces again. He smiled contently before he responded to the question still hanging in the air.

"You're here River"

"What does that mean?"

"It means, I'm absolutely fine"

The Doctor closed his eyes and slid down the wall.

* * *

The guard for the cell block commenced his patrol along the corridor. Lightening flashed across his stern features. He was grateful for being assigned to this wing, for it housed only one prisoner. It had always only held one prisoner. The latest arrest had saved them from having to clear out all the belongings of the previous occupant.

He came to a stop beside the occupied cell. It had once housed the most notorious escapee they'd ever had the misfortune of trying to imprison, Professor River Song. Every time the curly haired blonde Professor had begun packing her suitcase the whole planet had to be put on high alert. His eyes looked down to the new occupant, sat against the wall talking away to himself. It shocked the guard, he'd heard many stories about the Doctor, but he'd never heard that he was crazy, or that he talked to himself. The Doctor was oblivious to him as he checked the cells on either side of the Time Lord trying to see whom he was talking to. He wasn't sure why he bothered to check, he knew the Doctor was the only prisoner on the wing. Before pity could settle itself in his stomach he picked up the Doctor's file from beside the cell door. He opened it up and skipped past the several pages showing the Doctor's previous faces. He finally reached the short handwritten paragraph about the Time Lord; he paraphrased the words to read it quicker.

_'The Doctor. _

_Species: Time Lord. _

_Crime: The opening of a hole in the fabric of reality granting passage in opposite directions between two realities. _

_No living family that he could use his one phone call a day on. The only person he could have called was his late wife.' _

The guard gasped when he read the name, 'Professor River Song' He stared into the cell, at the Time Lord muttering River's name repeatedly and talking as though he were actually having a conversation with her. It was sad seeing where such a great man had ended up, the Doctor was the stuff of legends, but all things came to an end eventually.

* * *

_Thank you for reading. __**This is the end of part one. **_


	18. Chapter 18 (1) : Ripped apart

I couldn't stop myself from posting this earlier than I'd intended. I've been trying to work writing around revision, but revision is apparently being worked around writing. So roll on Part 2 Chapter 1. ++ _Interface._ ++

* * *

**Ice and the Doctor: Part 2: Return to Arendelle**

**Chapter 1 (18): Ripped apart**

The years in Storm Cage so far had been the most boring of his life. All fifty two of them. River's cell, as he had discovered, was devoid of anything even remotely useful to the ancient Time Lord. With the exception of her razor, obviously purchased, or stolen knowing his wife, from Midnight, as no matter how often he shaved he couldn't blunt the perfect diamond blade. He currently sat on her bed, his long legs folded casually one over the other, with his glasses pushed up high on his nose. He licked his finger casually and turned the page of the latest book he'd selected from her bookshelf.

"Boring read," he announced. He went quiet, awaiting the reply that was never coming, her voice had stopped responding years ago. He still tried to engage her in conversation, despite the fact that she'd finally faded from him, as all things did eventually. The Doctor dropped the open book into his lap and sighed, he slid off his spectacles and sat them on the side table. He considered the contents of his cell for a moment, his eyes cast around the small space. From the secure bars, to the wardrobe that held all of River's clothes and his one jacket folded neatly into the bottom. The bookcase that sat to the left of the window was brimming with all the books it could possibly hold, odd pieces of paper stuck out of them at peculiar angles, "What are you doing with your regeneration Doctor?" he groaned to himself rubbing his eyes with his fingertips. The cell block phone started to ring out, it echoed loudly up and down the corridor. The Doctor leapt up and ran to the bars of his cell. He waited impatiently for the guard to come running to answer it; tapping his foot despite only a few seconds having passed.

"Ooh!" he beamed seeing the black suited guard dash to the phone, "Ooh! It's probably for me," he pointed happily at himself, twirled on the spot, then stretched a hand out through the bars grabbing at thin air as if the guard would simply pass the handset directly over to him – It didn't happen of course.

"Hello? The Doctor?" The guard eyed the Time Lord with pure suspicion and absolute dislike, "Here," he finally resided to walking over to the eager Doctor, "It's for you"

"Hello," the Doctor beamed into the handset. The voice on the other end made him stiffen, "I don't do that anymore, haven't for years. Half a century to be exact"

"I asked them to specify the reason why they required your services to protect this woman using the one word test," the voice replied laying strong emphasis on the "s" in each word.

"And?" the Doctor turned his back to the guard stood staring at him and lowered his voice, "What did they say?"

"Fear"

"They had a word each. One word, per person. That's the rule," the Doctor scratched his head, closed his eyes tightly, and leant his shoulder against the cold wall, "What was the other word?"

"Ice"

The Doctor's body flooded with adrenaline he stood upright sharply, "That's impossible. Vastra are you sure you heard correctly?"

On the other end of the line, in number thirteen Paternoster Row, London England, Madam Vastra sat at the desk in her study, her black veil was lifted showing off her green Silurian scales, she spoke clearly into her modified Victorian telephone, "Doctor, I'm absolutely certain, Jenny as my witness, those were their chosen words"

"And you have the space-time co-ordinates?" the Doctor's voice was crackly on the old line.

"Extracted and sent to the Tardis already of course," Vastra barely allowed the indignant tone to creep into her voice, "Doctor, will you be requiring our services in this matter?"

"Quite possibly. You know where I am don't you?"

"Well I didn't assume that you were on holiday Doctor"

"Then you know why I'm here"

"I do keep a reasonably close eye on your behaviours, yes"

"Then you know that this is going to be very dangerous"

"I understand Doctor," Madam Vastra placed the handset down on the stand and rose from her seat. Her clear blue eyes met with those of the human maid waiting in the doorway.

"Well Ma'am, what did 'e say?"

"Jenny, we must pack at once," Vastra announced, "We'll be needing the swords"

* * *

The Doctor paced his cell. His footsteps echoed loudly, he grabbed one of the cold bars on his window tightly and peered out into the raging storm around him.

"You can leave me now," he spoke firmly and clearly. The guard snapped out of his daze, his eyes transfixed on the Doctor's back.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine, I just, I want to be on my own," the Doctor didn't move his eyes from the view outside. This close to the window he could feel the breeze that whistled through his cell at night. When the heavy footsteps subsided he moved swiftly to the wardrobe and withdrew his sonic screwdriver from the invisible lining in his folded jacket. After lots of vigorous shaking of the purple material the Tardis key also materialised from its hiding place. The Doctor cursed at himself as the key jingled happily as it bounced on the stone floor. He snatched it up and watched it glow brightly in his palm, the golden haze made him smile. The sudden sound of returning footsteps disrupted his reunion.

The guard marched quickly down to the Doctor's cell, he replaced the handset that he'd accidently taken with him and turned to the Doctor stood fully dressed next to his bed, he was just pulling a small piece of fluff from his lapel when the guard addressed him, "You didn't have that jacket on a minute ago," his captor said suspiciously.

"Bit drafty in here," the Doctor informed him politely. He straightened his bow tie slowly, a grin spread across his lips.

"Are you sure you're okay? I heard a…"

"Never been better" The Doctor leaned sharply to his right, his shoulder hit thin air, the outline of the Tardis rippled from the point of contact.

"Doctor, don't you dare, I'll sound the alarm. They'll be on you in an instant"

"Better get to it then," the Doctor slipped inside just as the alarms started to chime out. He dashed about the controls in his fiery console routine. The monitors informed him that the Tardis was now being considered hostile. The Doctor managed to get his faithful machine to warp outside the walls of the cell, he could hear the thunderous weather beating down around him. The trip was going to be a rough one, the monitor beeped and the controls flashed red as an incoming projectile came onto the radar. In a blur of purple and bow tie the Doctor input several consecutive flight paths, "No good!" he yelled to his faithful machine, "They're locked onto us!" He released his grip on the console to move across to the stabilisers just as the Tardis was hit, "Whoa!" he cried trying in vain to grab hold of anything within his grasp, "Shields up! Shields up!" As the Tardis was sent into a spin the Doctor found himself clinging for dear life to the door lever, behind him the wind and rain entered the Tardis with ferocious velocity, "Ahh, ahh," he struggled to find a better lever to hang onto but instead found himself lever-less and flying towards the open doorway, "Geronimo! Ooft!" he gasped as he impacted with one of the doors that had shut just in time to catch him, "Thanks dear!" he yelled over the raging winds. Another tumble had him hanging on to the Tardis' exterior, the unclipped door rattled under his grasp, threatening to cast him out into the storm.

A second missile swirled towards the Tardis, the Doctor could force the Tardis to dematerialise but beyond him the cell block and all the inmates would perish when the projectile hit the Storm Cage facility. Remotely, by use of his screwdriver, the Doctor guided the Tardis, doors both now wide open, towards the incoming projectile. The red hot rocket whizzed past a mere foot over his head and into the Time Machine. The Doctor aimed at the controls and ordered the dematerialisation satisfied that the missile was safely on board, well, sort of safely.

* * *

The crash landing almost threw him inside after the volatile explosive, he could hear the swooshing as the Tardis tried in vain to redirect the missile without causing it to impact. It took all his alien strength not to be thrown inside after it. The Doctor clambered hurriedly out of his ruined Tardis, smoke billowed out of the open doors after him. He pulled the doors shut just in time as the interior exploded violently. The Tardis jerked and flew a few feet into the air, the Doctor was thrown back across the marble floor, he smacked his head against the hard stone as he skidded to a slow halt. Dazed but unharmed he sat up and stared blankly at his smoking Time Machine. The Tardis could repair itself, he thanked Gallifrey for small mercies and rose cautiously to his feet. He turned on the spot, his eyes drinking in the royal decoration of the room, the delicate flower emblems that marked most surfaces. He pushed his untamed hair back as he absorbed where he'd landed. His open mouth transformed into a smile, his smile transformed into silent laughter, "Made it," he whispered, "I'm back"

"What is the meaning of this?!" The clatter of armed guards grabbed his attention, he turned to face the open doorway. They were led by an un-armoured gentleman, his black hair was slicked back, his gold hilted sword, was aimed right at the Doctor.

"Where is Queen Elsa?" The Time Lord asked simply. Had he not landed in the right time? Was he too late? His shoulders dropped slightly in confusion.

"The Queen does not address intruders in her castle!"

"What on _earth_ is going on?"

The Doctor's hearts perked up at seeing a crown bobbing through the crowd of guards. Suddenly she was there. Staring wide eyed at him. For the longest moment they simply stared at one another, time froze around them. Four years had passed and still he looked not a day older. His hair was unruly, his clothes were singed and unkempt. He was covered in soot, utterly filthy; but it was definitely him. Queen Elsa took a step towards him, her dark haired protector objected instantly, even attempting to obstruct her way, "No your majesty don't..."

Elsa raised her hand sharply, "Don't, tell me what to do. Arendelle is not yet yours, don't forget it," she warned quietly. Elsa took slow and careful steps towards the Doctor, he never moved, his stare never faltered. She removed her glove and gently touched his sooty cheek, "It's you," she whispered. The Doctor raised his hand over hers.

"Yes"

"Where have you been?"

"I was lost," he told her as he put her hand on his chest, over the rapid rhythm of his beating hearts.

"It's been four years," a tear rolled down her cheek as she gazed upon her kind eyed Doctor, who had saved her from self destruction all those years ago in his wonderful blue box.

"I was _very_ lost," he replied with a hint of a smile. Elsa couldn't help but chuckle at him.

"You haven't changed a bit"

"Neither have you," he leant down to kiss her cheek but the Queen drew back out of his reach shaking her head slightly.

"Things _did_ change here Doctor, you've been gone for so long. We didn't think you were coming back"

"My love what's happening? Do you require the guards to remove this man or not?"

The Doctor swallowed hard and stared at the slick haired gentleman now at Elsa's side. There was something about his piercing grey eyes that had the Doctor glaring wordlessly at him. Behind their eyes their inner demons roared at one another, there was something about him, something unsettling, something dark. The moment only released it's hold when the steely grey eyes averted themselves realising that the ancient green pools were not going to cast their gaze away first. The Doctor's eyes flicked back to Elsa who found herself unable to look the Time Lord in the eye, "This is Prince Eric, of the Eastern Quarter," her eyes remained on the floor as Prince Eric held his hand out to the Doctor.

"Her fiancé," he said firmly. The Doctor ignored the gesture and continued to stare at the guilty looking Queen Elsa.

"Right," he said quietly, he found his eyes looking now everywhere but at Elsa as he blinked and choked back his emotion, "Quite right. Of course you are"

Was this emotion? Real emotion? The Doctor's movements, for a moment, faltered. Was he coming or going? What was this bizarre feeling that had a grip on him? His eyes flickered to Prince Eric, the man's stare was unmoving. The Doctor gripped his damaged bow tie tightly; he had to get out, he had to leave immediately. Leaving his Tardis smoking in the middle of the great hall he stormed out shoving the royal guards out of his way roughly as he went by. Of course she'd moved on, he'd been in rotting in Storm Cage for half a century. What did he expect? He strode as he'd done a thousand times before, across the courtyard and through the gates of the palace. He raged along the long walkway towards the town and harbour. A hand grabbed him sharply, he turned angrily, to scold whoever had grabbed him while he was in such a temper. He glared into the startled face of Jenny Flint.

"Ouch," she winced at the tight grip he had on her arm.

"Doctor!" Vastra's tone was highly disapproving, "Unhand Miss Jenny at once. What's gotten into you?" She pushed him firmly away from her precious Jenny, "Jenny are you alright my love?" The girl nodded rubbing her arm and giving the Doctor an exasperated look.

"I'm sorry Jenny," he apologised, "How, how did you get here?" he asked sheepishly of Madame Vastra.

"We sailed of course," Vastra indicated to their ship docked at the harbour, "Primitive, but not suspicious" The Doctor stared blankly at the Victorian British merchant ship bobbing gently in Arendelle's waters.

"Well you wasted your time," he told them, "We're too late" He began striding off into the crowd.

"Too late for whom might I ask?" Vastra's words pierced him.

The Doctor paused, he couldn't stop it, what was happening to him? The tears were coming, the sobs were rising, she'd found another and he felt utterly lost, he was alone again. He dropped to his knees in the busy marketplace, "Oh my goodness!" Jenny rushed to grab him before he caused a scene. Between them Jenny and Vastra guided the inconsolable Time Lord onto their ship and away from prying eyes.

* * *

From her window Elsa had watched the Doctor's heartfelt breakdown. She watched him being dragged to his feet a veiled woman and shorter girl wearing a navy waistcoat and tan trousers. Women didn't wear trousers in Arendelle, Elsa presumed they must be the Doctor's friends, at least she hoped they were, the Doctor needed people around him. A lone tear rolled slowly down her cheek, a hand on her shoulder made her flinch. Had he been watching the scene play out with her the whole time?

"Forget about him," Eric told her, "Our Kingdoms will merge next week and you can leave these memories behind you. It is my wish that you'll reside with me in the Eastern Quarter"

Elsa stared out at the Doctor being led away; the knot that had formed in her stomach tightened.


	19. Chapter 19 (2): Making an Entrance

**Chapter 2: Making an entrance  
**

"I'm fine," the Doctor insisted for the tenth time swinging his legs as he sat perched on a crate atop the deck of the merchant ship. He was suddenly overcome by the memory of watching the stars with Elsa, their legs swinging into space. He pulled his knees up to his chest suddenly, "It's nothing, really nothing"

"Well if you don't mind my saying so Doctor, it doesn't look like _nothing_," Vastra put a hand firmly on his shoulder, "You don't have to endure whatever this is alone old friend. What do you say Jenny?"

Jenny looked up from adjusting her tie and nodded eagerly, "We're always 'ere for you Doctor. Anythin' you need at all" The Doctor smiled sadly up at them. All three of them had repaid their debts to him at Demons Run without hesitation; now they'd trailed across an ocean to come to his aid. He frowned suddenly counting his old friends before him and stood up slowly – two.

"Where's Strax?"

"'e's watchin' the canons," Jenny confirmed in her broad London accent with a sly grin at Vastra.

"Is that wise?"

"We dampened the gunpowder before letting him down there. I assure you, he's quite safe"

An almighty explosion rocked the ship beneath their feet. The ship anchored adjacent to them suddenly bore a massive hole in its side; the wooden splinters were still airborne when the Doctor realised that the victim ship was one of Arendelle's modified cargo ships, "Oh no," he murmured.

"Doctor," Vastra hissed, "What do you mean 'oh no'?"

"I modified the ships here with Time Lord Technology"

"Alright," Vastra relaxed looking slightly perplexed, "Then what's the problem?"

"They're bigger on the inside"

"And what's that got to do with… Oh" Vastra took a few cautious steps back as the damaged ship beside them began to grow and rise up above them.

"The bigger on the inside is leaking out through the hole"

"What do we do?" Jenny backed up with the Doctor and Vastra as the ship continued to increase in size casting a dark shadow over them and the harbour of Arendelle. At that moment Commander Strax emerged on deck.

"Sir, I have identified that the human scum are hiding alien technology on board their vessels. We must further our attack," he looked over his shoulder at the gigantic ship, "I suggest a full frontal assault with high powered grenades, and acid. We have them on the run!"

"Yes!" the Doctor cried, "_Run!_"

The ship began to break apart as the space was taken up by the growing ship. The wood groaned under the pressure then began to burst into splinters, the decking was thrown up behind them in a spray of shards. The women were extremely fast runners, the Doctor just saw them vanish over the side of the ship's railing taking an enormous leap of faith towards land. Behind him Commander Strax was struggling to keep pace, his short stumpy form didn't help, "Sir! I'm not sure that I'll make it!" The Doctor held a sweaty palm out behind him, the Sontaran just managed to lock his grip with the Time Lord with his three fingered hand.

"Strax I'm about to do something incredibly stupid!"

"Very good sir! I'll follow your lead!"

The Doctor used their momentum to swing the short Sontaran around and launch him towards the safety of dry land. He barely managed to regain his balance having to hop a few times after releasing Strax's weight. Looking behind him at the approaching threat he realised that he was running out of ship, "Geronimo!" he yelled diving over the edge straight at Jenny and Vastra who had only just managed to avoid the flying Sontaran. The ship burst into a raining shower of wood and cargo behind him. The four adventurers landed in a heap on the ground exhausted, the chaos had yet to settle. Vastra wafted her gloved hand around to diffuse the cloud of dust, she tilted her head and glared at the Doctor, "Is there anything else that you wish to tell us?"

The Doctor shut his eyes tightly taking in deep ragged breaths. He shook his head from side to side, "I think that's everything" he gasped. A cold chill suddenly took hold of the air, delicate snowflakes danced and swirled around them. Vastra and Jenny each turned their heads to stare at the Doctor ungracefully wedged in between them, "The Queen _might_ have Ice powers," he added quietly indicating with his finger and thumb, "Only might, tiny chance," he lied.

"Doctor you've really outdone yourself this time," Her crystalline voice broke the growing icy silence. Before the Doctor could answer Strax had leapt into action.

"Silence boy! We have you putrid human scum on the run!"

Elsa stared down utterly bewildered at the odd potato-like solider aiming a giant gun at her, with a casual wave of her hand she froze the weapon and sealed it into Strax's hand. The Sontaran looked up at the Queen in exasperation as though she'd just ruined a perfectly reasonable game.

"Ignore Strax. He's a Sontaran. Clone warrior race. Whole legions factory-produced at a time. Two genders is a bit further than he can count," the Doctor didn't even get up from the floor, "Typical middle child of six million"

"Friends of yours then Doctor?" Elsa couldn't help but smile a little, the Doctor nodded silently, "Shall we do something about this mess? All this unwanted attention isn't good for Arendelle" The Time Lord rose reluctantly to his feet, he still couldn't look at the Queen as he withdrew his sonic screwdriver and aimed high up at the collapsed compression field of the ship. It began to fold back and shrink before their eyes.

"You may need to seal it in, it's very unstable," the Doctor informed her when the ship no longer responded to the sonic pulses he was hitting it with. Jenny nudged Vastra in the ribs as Elsa began to work her magic. Vastra frowned at Jenny in annoyance but the girl simply nodded to where the ship was slowly becoming engulfed into delicately crafted ice. Vastra's jaw dropped at the phenomenon, with her scanner she subtly scanned the Queen; nothing that even remotely hinted to ice powers flagged up on the scan, in fact, the reading simply read human.

"Extraordinary," she whispered to her lover. With the ship bobbing along within a cube of ice the gathering could finally relax.

"I'll have the ship yard construct you a new ship at once," Elsa informed the two women.

"That's very kind of you," Vastra lifted her veil to address the Queen properly, "But we brought alternative means of travel in the event that our ship may be claimed by the sea" Elsa gasped and stared at the green scales of Madame Vastra's face.

"She's a giant Lizard," the Doctor beamed rubbing his hands together gleefully. His smile faded to concern as he watched Elsa's eyes lose focus, she tumbled backwards to land on the floor.

"I think she might 'ave fainted," Jenny informed the puzzled looking Time Lord. He looked up apologetically at Madame Vastra who simply rolled her eyes and lowered her veil again with a small hiss.

* * *

"She'll be fine. It's all under control" The Doctor's voice seemed so distant to the Queen. She blinked her eyes open slowly.

"''ere Doctor I think she's wakin' up" Elsa noted the unfamiliar accent belonging to the dark haired girl staring down at her.

"What the…"

"Oh good," the Doctor's face suddenly appeared beside the girl's, "Sorry about that Elsa. It can be a bit overwhelming meeting new species. But I assure you, Madame Vastra is perfectly safe"

"O' I don't know," Jenny smirked, "She can be a bit wild some o' the time"

"Have you gone a darker shade of green?" Strax's deep voice rang through the conversation.

Elsa sat upright, "See," the Doctor told her, "Everything is fine"

"I need to return home Doctor"

"Are you in a hurry?" he asked her with a smile, "You've just fainted, I'm sure it's a reasonable excuse to be home late"

"Puny human. I demand that you release me from my weapon immediately," Strax shoved the Doctor out of the way and presented his frozen hand to Elsa.

"Oh my goodness," she gasped thawing it quickly, "I'm sorry, I forgot all about that. Please," she turned to the Time Lord, "I must return home, Eric will be looking for me"

"Eric," the Doctor mused, "Yes, I rather hoped that he'd come looking for you in person," he looked over his shoulder and nodded to Madame Vastra; her all-knowing brilliant blue eyes received his silent message.

"Doctor where are we?" The Queen asked suddenly taking notice of her surroundings. They appeared to be in a house, from the window she could see the spire of the castle.

"We've commandeered ourselves a home," the Doctor informed her happily, "The family who live here had a surprise win on the lottery"

"A win on the what?"

"I think I just invented the lottery," the Doctor winked cheerily at Jenny. He glanced out of the window and pulled the curtain shut, "Now. We don't have much time Elsa. You need to tell me, where did you meet Eric?"

Elsa looked up at him in bewilderment, "Why does that matter? You left me for four years Doctor"

"Elsa, that's not why I'm asking," he knelt down to her, "Please," he pressed his forehead against hers, "It's important"

"I, I don't, I…"

The front door burst open and a royal guard entered the room, "She's here!" he bellowed. Prince Eric was close behind him; he pushed through the group and came eye to eye with the Time Lord.

"You," he growled.

"Me," the Doctor replied darkly. He could feel a swelling of sadness growing in the pit of his stomach as Eric's cold eyes blazed at him in fury.

"Elsa. Get up we're leaving"

The Doctor watched Vastra slowly scanning the Prince from the shadows. He promptly turned his back on him to face the Queen, "My friends, might be stuck here for a while. Is there any chance; you may be able to give them temporary jobs in service?" Elsa winced at him, her eyes pleaded for him not to put her in such a position, "Please, it'll only be temporary, they lost everything on their ship today" She looked to Eric who was making no effort to hide the shaking of his head.

"Okay," she said finally looking away from Prince Eric's furious glare, "I'll join you outside," she informed him without looking back into his angry face. Elsa stepped up to the Doctor and whispered quietly into his ear.

"I can't remember when I met him," she laid a kiss on his cheek softly, as she passed the threshold she called, "Your friends can start tomorrow Doctor!" The Doctor stood still for a moment, his hand reached up to where Elsa's kiss still burned his skin. A sniffle roused Vastra's attention from the data that was being calculated on her handheld scanner. She looked down at Jenny, tears streaked her pink cheeks.

"Jenny?" Vastra was startled by her beloved Jenny's streaming tears.

"So sorry ma'am. I don't know what 'appened. I just 'ad a real sad feelin' come over me," the girl brushed the tears hurriedly from her face. The Doctor spun around sharply and pointed at her.

"You felt it too," he informed her.

"Doctor?" Vastra watched him stride to the window again, watching the royal guard escorting the Queen back to the castle.

"It's 'im isn't it? 'e makes you feel 'opeless, 'e takes away everythin' what makes you feel 'appy. It makes you feel so alone" the girl turned to Vastra, "I bet you an' Strax couldn't feel it ma'am 'cause you ain't 'uman"

"But the Doctor isn't..." Vastra's argument fell on deaf ears.

The Doctor addressed the Silurian hurriedly, "Did you get it?" Vastra looked down at the numbers still flickering on her scanner.

"It's still calculating"

"It would know by now if he was human. Leave it running, we might get a hit later," the Doctor rubbed his hands together, "Okay, we need a plan. Ooh, I haven't had a plan in a while. This is exciting isn't it? You two, find out what you can tomorrow when you go and work there," he pointed at Jenny and Strax, "Be bold, nowhere is out of bounds. Ignore the 'Keep out' signs, aggressive stares, forget about the locks on the doors…"

"Ohhh," Jenny groaned, "My lock picking kit was on the ship"

"Don't worry about that, the Tardis will have repaired in twenty four hours, I'll get you a new one. In the meantime Vastra and I will..." the Doctor turned to Madame Vastra, she seemed to have gone an incredibly pale shade of green, "What's wrong?"

"The swords were on the ship"

The Doctor rolled his eyes and slapped a palm to his face.

"We might need 'em Doctor. We still 'ave to get through tonight, 'e might come back or anythin'"

* * *

"But sir!" Strax protested as the Doctor tightened the knot on the rope surrounding his waist, "My genes aren't genetically spliced for this function!" The Time Lord pulled out a small handheld respirator from his pocket.

"When you've found them, tug on the rope and we'll pull you back out"

"Why can't the_ boy_ one do it?" the Sontaran frowned at Jenny.

"You're the boy one!" the women chorused.

"And don't take too long Straxy. We don't want to arouse suspicion," the Doctor added before pushing the heavy Sontaran off the edge of the deck.

"I didn't think that Commander Strax could swim," Vastra pondered watching the steady stream of bubbles breaking the surface of the water.

"'e can't, 'e swims like a big ol' brick"

"Exactly the stroke we need him to use," the Doctor beamed up at the two women.

"You don't know anythin' 'bout swimmin', do you Doctor?"

"Not a thing," he grinned.


	20. Chapter 20: Infiltrating Arendelle

**Chapter 3: Infiltrating Arendelle**

The Doctor peered down at the Sontaran, "I don't know what you're talking about," his tone was deadly serious. Commander Strax stared blankly back up at the Time Lord.

"But Sir, green is a horrid colour for a Sontaran," a hissing behind him made him turn around, "No offence Madame," he added.

"None taken," Vastra replied curtly turning back to fixing Jenny's collar, "My love you look a picture, green suits you very much"

"Why thank you Ma'am," the girl chuckled curtseying in the uniform sent by the Queen.

"Jenny do be careful when you are in there. Do not engage this man in combat. We don't yet know what he is or why he is here"

" 'asn't the scan completed yet?"

The Silurian glanced down at the scanner sat on the table, "I'm afraid not"

"Okay Straxy," the Doctor beamed fixing Strax's bow tie, "It's show time" He fixed his own bow tie happily before leading them out of their hideout and towards the palace.

The night had been completely uneventful. Arendelle as they'd discovered was perfectly calm and quiet from around nine o'clock in the evening; not a mouse stirred until dawn. The Doctor strode along happily ahead of the group. His footsteps were loud as they tapped along the cobbles. The early risers in the small town could be heard whispering, 'It's the Doctor. He's returned' The Time Lord didn't stop to chat, nor did he pause to acknowledge anyone. High up in Elsa's bedroom window his eyes were transfixed on a silhouette of a man.

"I'm coming for you," the Doctor muttered darkly.

* * *

"You look beautiful," the Queen greeted Jenny in her uniform, "And handsome," she added to the disgruntled Strax, "There's not much to do around here, but I'm sure you'll be just fine"

"Thank you, for this," the Doctor smiled, "You have fun Straxy boy!" He beamed as he noogied Strax and smacked a huge kiss on the top of the Sontaran's head. He screwed his face up at the taste and flicked his tongue out in mild disgust.

"Sir, do not noogie me during work prep" The Sontaran grumbled in embarrassment.

Elsa coughed pointedly and pointed behind the Time Lord with a smile. The Doctor turned to see the Tardis, now stood upright, looking as good as new.

"I had it stood upright for you Doctor, it was beginning to sound rather distressed at being on its side" The Doctor felt his heart jump at this, Elsa had felt the Tardis' distress? Elsa stood simply smiling at him, he returned this with his large puppy dog eyes and a vacant grin, he loved when the women in his life got along. The tender, subtle moment however was short lived.

"Ouch," he gasped pulling the hot shiny Yale key from his pocket. He grinned at Vastra, "The car is ready," he chuckled, "We'll have to take her for a spin to run her in," he turned back to Elsa, "I bet your sister would love a quick trip to the moon. Where is she?"

Elsa looked slightly startled at his question, out of the corner of her eye she could see Eric enter the room, "Anna, she's, she left with Kristoff, um, she wasn't very, specific about where they were going…" her voice trailed off, Elsa cringed at the Doctor, in her palm she made a tiny ice structure, watching his eyes flick over it she quickly curled her fingers around it, thawing it instantly as the Prince approached her.

The Doctor, initially stunned by her evasiveness suddenly grinned, "We should go there again some time, you and I"

"I'd like that Doctor" The Doctor's heart rate peaked again, he grinned widely at the Queen completely ignoring the man now stood at her side. He bear hugged her suddenly, he breathed in deeply the scent of her hair, it was like coming home. He put his lips to her ear, "I'm going to fix this," he whispered.

"Doctor," Vastra interrupted him quickly, she forced the scanner into his hand. The Time Lord stared between the reading and the Prince for a moment, things were beginning to made a little more sense. The scanner, as technological as it was, couldn't actually tell him why Elsa didn't just freeze this horrid specimen but the Doctor often found that time would usually reveal all to him eventually, if he just allowed situations to simmer a little longer.

"Time to run"

With that said he hurried to the Time Machine, turned the key in the lock and rushed inside, Madame Vastra close at his heels. Jenny and Strax watched on as the Tardis dematerialised. The girl wished that Vastra had told them what they were dealing with before running off like that. She looked to Strax who was already watching her, they were on their own now.

* * *

The interior of the Tardis, was breath taking. Sharp, crisp blue light from the central column illuminated the circular control room. Every surface was shiny, silver, and all brand new. The delicate array of controls lit up in a variety of blues and greens, yellows and reds. Vastra stared up at the rotating reams of Old High Gallifreyan above the console unit, "New desktop," the Doctor informed his stunned guest, "Had a bit of an incident with a storm cage explosive" The Silurian shook herself out of her daze and moved to where the Doctor had plugged the scanner into the console. She rocked slightly as the Doctor piloted the Tardis into the Earth's upper atmosphere away from prying eyes.

"I don't think I understand the reading it's giving Doctor," she admitted after a few moments.

"Anti-matter," he told her quite calmly.

"Yes I can see that it's anti-matter but I don't understand the significance"

"Isn't it obvious? He came through the hole in reality"

"But the repair to it is being overseen as we speak by the Shadow Proclamation's High Counsel"

"He is quite convincing though, probably slipped right past them," the Doctor uploaded the readings into the Tardis database, "What do we know about anti-matter?"

"The particles are the same weight as regular particles only their charge is the complete opposite"

"The complete opposite," the Doctor repeated mumbling to himself as he typed into the new keyboard before him.

"When matter meets anti-matter they destroy each other, they cancel out"

"Do you believe in an alternate reality?" The Doctor stopped his typing and leant against the monitor.

"Do I believe in…?"

"Another reality where there's another you running around killing humans, or a Jenny who isn't so sweet, or a Strax that, well, bad example. Perhaps another me?"

"But not a _kind_ you? Not a _saviour of worlds_? Perhaps such a thing exists. You know better than anyone about parallel universes Doctor," she noticed how he stiffened at the mention of the other universe, "But you're suggesting that a reality exists in which our anti-selves also exist, not just different versions of us that have made different life choices"

The Doctor scratched his head, "If he's an anti-version. Why hasn't he been destroyed by the matter in our reality?"

"Because he hasn't met his counterpart," the Silurian said simply, "This Prince must exist somewhere in our reality, only when they come into contact will they cancel each other out"

"So if we find the real Prince, we can cancel them out?"

"They'll both die"

"Then we need to send him back through the tear. No one needs to die, not today," The Doctor input a search into the Time Machine, hurriedly searching for the location of the hole in reality. Vastra watched his brow furrow further and further into a frown.

"What's wrong?" she asked in response to a hopeless groan from the Time Lord.

"They've closed it. They managed to seal it shut. But of course they've closed it, to them it's been fifty years, you don't need that long to do a quick repair job"

"Then we have no choice old friend. Sacrifice one to save many. Where is this Prince from?"

"The Eastern Quarter"

"Well, where is that?"

"No idea" The Doctor rubbed his eyes in thought, his hand dropped to his side, "What are you doing now?"

Madame Vastra removed her veil, the material of her dress left with it revealing traditional Silurian war attire, "Do we know anyone that can direct us there?" The Doctor didn't move despite Vastra readying herself for the task ahead. He watched as she strapped her sword to her back. Her green scales reflected the light from the central Time Rotor. A sharp glimmer from her now bare hand temporarily blinded the Doctor in one eye. As she continued to tighten the strap he could see clearly the small silver band on her left hand.

"How do you do it?" he asked quietly.

"Do what Doctor?"

"Love a human knowing that you're going to outlive them. Knowing that you're going to have to see them wilt, and suffer, and die?"

Vastra looked down at the plain band she wore without fail every single day, "It's the curse we live with Doctor. The end is coming no matter how fast we try to run from it. You learn to live," she carefully removed the Doctor's pocket watch from his waistcoat, "Instead of watching the clock count down to zero"

He watched her carefully as she set the time piece down on the console, "You'd do anything for Jenny?"

"No matter the cost. We must protect those we love Doctor. They're precious, our time with them is short"

"Oh Vastra, look at you," the Doctor smiled, "You've changed so much"

"As have you old friend. Change helps us to live better lives"

"Life," he sighed, "Life is too long," the Doctor turned back to his controls, shaking his head slowly.

"Not for them Doctor" She snapped at him, "For them it isn't long enough. For us, their lives are not long enough"

"I know where to find Elsa's sister, she'll know where the neighbouring isles are"

Vastra could sense that their delicate conversation had drawn to a close. She leant back against one of the outer control panels and allowed the Doctor to control his Time Machine in peace.

* * *

The Ice Tardis stood proudly on the edge of the North Mountain. The ice crystals sparkled in the rising daylight. The real Tardis stood not even twenty metres away, the time travelling duo stood in its open doorway. The Doctor squirmed under Vastra's withering glare, "I won't ask Doctor," she told him flatly.

"Probably for the best," he grimaced as they approached the enormous doors. He knocked four times, "Not sure why I did that," he muttered quietly.

"It's the heartbeat of a Time Lord, the rhythm of your people," Vastra replied lazily running her hand along the smooth perfectly crafted Ice. The door opened sharply. Stood in the opening, jaw practically trailing on the floor, was Princess Anna.

"Doctor, is that really you? Actually you? Oh my god. I'm dead aren't I? I knew it! I knew all of this was just too crazy to be real!" The Doctor and Madame Vastra glanced nervously at each other.

"Anna you're not dead," the Doctor pushed past her entering the large ice structure, "I had trouble getting back to Arendelle, long story, I'll probably tell you about it another time, then again, I'll probably forget. Why are you up here?"

"Elsa sent us up here"

"Kristoff is here too?"

"… Eight, Nine, Ten! Okay feisty pants! Here I come!" The Ice Mason in question came dashing out of a side room wearing nothing but a little grass troll-made Hulu skirt and his hat. Vastra's eyes widened at the sight, she quickly slapped a hand up to her face to obscure her view. Kristoff snatched his hat off his head to hide his modesty unaware that the mental scarring had already been done, "Tell me that this is just a bad dream," he whimpered moving to hide behind the console.

"I wish..." muttered Vasta.

"Ah Kristoff," the Doctor smiled, the awkward moment completely lost on him, "Nice of you to join us"

"Kristoff!" Anna scolded, "Go and get dressed please. Now is not a good time. I'm sorry about him. Oh!" she gasped seeing Vastra properly for the first time.

"This is Madame Vastra, she's a Silurian. Her people inhabited the earth before you lot took over. This is Princess Anna of Arendelle"

"Oh, wow. I mean, that's really cool. You're a lovely shade, I mean, green, it's very nice, I love green," Anna's voice trailed off as she dug an even bigger hole for herself. She bowed slightly hoping that it would grant her forgiveness.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Princess Anna of Arendelle," Vastra was highly amused by this little earth girl. She'd forgotten what it was like to meet someone so naïve to the Doctor's world.

"Come here," the Doctor pulled Anna into a tight hug. He sniffed her hair and beamed, he'd missed how the Arendelle sisters smelled, "Oh you too!" he lifted her hand up showing off a wedding band. Anna blushed pulling her hand back to look at the ring herself as though it was the first time she'd seen it.

"Two years already," she laughed.

"Congratulations! Hey, you two could form a club," he pointed between the two women, "The married women club. You could have meetings, bake cakes and, do knitting!" Vastra hissed at the Time Lord in annoyance, "Right. Sorry, Anna, you never said why Elsa sent you up here"

"Because of Eric," Anna's expression changed, she frowned at the floor, "There's something about him Doctor. He's got this,_ hold_ over Elsa. I don't recognise her when she's with him"

"When did he come to Arendelle?"

The Princess screwed her face up in concentration, but at last she sighed loudly, "I can't remember. It's like he's always been here. Doctor it's so strange, when he's around it's like he sucks the life out of the room. When we were alone, Elsa told me that there was something very wrong. That I should get away from Arendelle. She told me to come here, and to tell _no one_, because if you ever returned to the Kingdom, you'd go to the only place where people could be free. Doctor, how dangerous is he?"

"Very dangerous" The Silurian hissed.

"Vastra!" the Doctor groaned, "Don't tell her that!"

"Who are you to withhold the truth?" the Silurian argued, "This girl has a right to know what has invaded her world. Tell her Doctor, you owe it to these people that you left behind for so long"

"Doctor, is my sister safe?"

The Doctor took a deep breath, before the straight talking Silurian could open her mouth.

* * *

Jenny Flint peered around the corner into the corridor that led to the Prince's study. In her hand, she held a feather duster, "Don't be a wimp," she told herself quietly. After a deep breath she emerged fully into the corridor and began dusting the wooden panelling that ran its whole length, right past the study door. She moved slowly, being sure to look engrossed in her work. She was used to pretending to look busy back in London where she was the 'maid' of the house. Mostly that role was just to keep up appearances, though she did tidy the place while Vastra was out working. However, she had often pretended to clean the house while secretly watching her darling Silurian wife studying cases at her desk, she loved watching the concentration in her love's face as she read line after line. Madame Vastra was often contacted by Scotland Yard to solve crimes that they could not. Jenny had sent many telegrams to the institution on behalf of her wife informing them that whatever culprit they had been searching for had been dealt with accordingly. The study door drew nearer and Jenny slowed her dusting pace, worried now that she would reach the door too soon and be mentally unprepared for whatever lurked behind it. She ran through the multiple possibilities in her mind; but nothing could calm her erratic heart rate. This must be how Vastra felt when she was out hunting criminals and murderers. She withdrew her small lock picking kit and had just started inserting the small implements into the keyhole when she realised that the door wasn't locked at all. Jenny crouched to peer through the hole, the room looked empty. She silently cursed under her breath feeling rather silly before opening the door. It creaked open slowly, Jenny flinched as a blast hit the doorframe beside her head.

"Strax!" she chastised, "Wha' the 'ell are you doin'?"

"Investigating," the Sontaran replied lowering his blaster, "You startled me," he explained matter of factly.

Jenny closed the door quickly behind her, "'ow the 'ell did you get in 'ere?"

"Through the door you stupid boy!"

"The door was open?"

"Of course it was open! How else do you think I got in here? ... Ridiculous human"

Jenny puffed air into her cheeks and glared at the back of the Sontaran's head, "You're going to get us caught," she muttered angrily before joining him in his snooping.


	21. Chapter 21: The Body Snatchers

**Chapter 4: The Body Snatchers**

The Silurian watched the Doctor carefully as he paced around the icy hideout. A part of her wanted to know of the danger rushing to greet him. She wished that she could make contact again with his wife, River Song always knew the Doctor's future. Vastra recalled the last conference call she'd shared with the dead woman, and the information that River had allowed her to know. It was flattering to be trusted by the half Time Lord with such delicate intelligence on the future, but the responsibility was overwhelming. Vastra had spent many an hour trying to decipher River's riddles and work out the points in time in which his wife's help should be revealed to him. However, the candles that she'd spent years developing to induce their dreamt-state conference calls were lost in the bottom of Arendelle's harbour, there was no way to confirm that any of River's help would be suitable on this occasion. The Doctor turned to pace back in her direction, he looked worried, and when the Doctor was worried, things were bad. Vastra shifted her weight from one foot to the other. It wasn't until Vastra realised that she was playing with her wedding band that she realised how much she was worried about her darling Jenny. Neither the girl nor the Sontaran knew what had come to Arendelle, Vastra found small comfort in knowing that Jenny could handle herself and that she wasn't about to meet any anti-matter that would cancel her out of the universe. A larger part of her wanted to race back to the Palace to protect Jenny herself; no matter the cost.

"Doctor where was the hole originally located might I ask?"

The Time Lord paused and considered his lizard friend carefully, "England," he shrugged trying to mentally recall the data from the Tardis, "It uh, it formed when I rescued their parents. They wanted to see each other, so I…" he sighed loudly, "I allowed it"

"Oh Doctor. You are your own worst enemy. Only a complete fool would take the risks you do"

"I know"

"It's possible that this creature has been causing mischief all over England too"

The Doctor felt his blood run suddenly cold as a horrible thought washed over him, "Your visitors," he approached the startled Silurian.

"What about them?"

"It was their parents. They knew the words that would bring me here. That's how he knew, that's why he's here," the Doctor smacked his palm against his forehead, "I couldn't see it before because I'm So! Stupid!" he twirled on the spot to face the doorway, he pulled out a pair of 3D glasses and put them on, "I need to see your office," he informed the still very startled Madame Vastra.

"Wait, see what? And what about the humans?" she asked.

"Five minutes"

"Ready Doctor!" Anna's voice rang out. Both she and Kristoff, now fully dressed, remerged.

"Field trip then," the Doctor grinned, "Let's go"

* * *

"Wow it is way hot in here," Anna fanned her face with her hand. The four of them found themselves squashed inside Vastra's moderately sized office.

"Just don't touch anything," Vastra was not particularly impressed that her personal space was being invaded by the Doctor, he tended to leave chaos in his wake. She rolled her eyes impatiently watching his legs disappear under her desk as he crawled around the floor in his 3D glasses. He stood up on the other side waving his hand in front of his face wiggling his fingers. He darted past his puzzled entourage and moved swiftly through the premises, "Doctor!" Vastra protested giving chase after him as he ascended the stairs two at a time. She caught up to him in the master bedroom. The large double bed was made to perfection, not a crease in the sheets, not a thing out of place. The Doctor crept slowly around the large furnishing, his hand outstretched in front of him, "Doctor, I assure you nothing untoward has occurred in here" The Time Lord grinned behind the large dark glasses.

"Really?" he teased. Vastra, even through the tint of the lenses, turned a much darker shade of green, "What you do in your own home is your business," he removed the glasses, "But I'm afraid you've had some cowboys in here," he offered them to her. She received them looking slightly perplexed and held them up to her face, her lack of human features, namely ears, prevented her from wearing them as the Doctor did. What she saw, were clusters and streams of small black particles emitting tiny bursts of white light, hundreds, thousands of them scattered around the perimeter of the bed.

"Doctor…?"

"They're from the reality tear"

Vastra felt suddenly sick, it had been in her home and she'd not even noticed. It could have taken Jenny, harmed her, or worse, killed her precious human. It made her blood boil, "I will make him pay for this intrusion," she hissed furiously throwing the glasses roughly back at the Doctor.

"That's the problem actually," the Time Lord tucked the glasses away into his jacket, "There's more matter floating around in this whole house than one person could bring with them"

"Then who else came through?" Vastra was positively furious, "Doctor we must return to Arendelle at once"

"This complicates things," The Doctor tapped his teeth with the tip of his screwdriver, "I hope we aren't too late"

* * *

Anna turned obediently on the spot while the Doctor stared intently at her with his odd looking tinted glasses on, "Okay you're clean," he confirmed, "Kristoff, you're up next buddy," he waved the Ice mason over. Vastra watched the Doctor work with pure fascination, she rested an arm over her sword holder and leant back against the console.

"What are you looking for?" The blonde asked as he turned slowly, arms raised up.

"I'm looking for matter that doesn't belong," the Doctor replied quietly, "You're clean too" He stood up and turned to Vastra, "We're good," he told her. She raised her arms, her expression one of 'at last', "Here," he threw his glasses to her, "My turn"

He raised his hands over his head and began to slowly turn on the spot. Vastra groaned at his thoroughness but did as he wished and examined him for foreign matter. She stiffened suddenly as he finally completed his rotation, "Something wrong?" he asked.

"No, everything seems to be in order," she drawled putting the glasses firmly back into his hand. She glanced at the human Princess who was staring at her. Vastra had never been known for being able to hide her reactions as humans could. She glared Anna into silence then turned back to the Doctor, "May we proceed now?"

"Yes. You two," he pointed at Anna and Kristoff, "You're going to stay here in the Tardis. It's the safest place for you, we can't have any accidents happening and you being wiped from the universe. Your sister would kill me"

"But..."

"No," the Doctor raised his hand stop Anna's protest, "For once I'm going to do this the right way. No one dies today"

"But we can't send them back, the void has been sealed shut" The Silurian watched the Time Lord intently.

"No one from _our side_ will die today," the Doctor corrected himself. He began to input their destination into the Tardis.

"How will we find all of them?"

"We'll go to their lair," the Doctor replied simply moving swiftly around the Silurian to continue plotting the flight path.

"Do we know where this lair might be?"

"Well it'll be underground won't it? All evil people have secret underground lairs"

Vastra fought off her frustration with the Time Lord, "Well I hope you're right about this"

"The dungeons beneath the palace are never used, no one goes down there. It would be, like, such a totally cool lair!" Anna happily offered her input.

"See. Ideal lair," the Doctor told the annoyed Silurian, "Rule one, the Doctor is always right"

Vastra's head jerked up, "I beg your pardon?"

"Something wrong?"

"I must have misheard you Doctor," Vastra shrugged. Behind his back the Silurian shook her head at the Ice Mason, who wrapped an instinctive arm around his Princess.

"Okay," the Doctor pulled the handbrake on, the Tardis rumbled to a halt, "Let's go"

The Doctor burst through the doors and skidded clumsily to a halt, Vastra slammed hard into him almost causing them both to fall into a heap on the floor. The room was almost pitch black. Stood in a cylindrical glass column in front of them, in a state of suspended animation, was Jenny. She stood upright, staring blankly out at them. Vastra rushed to her, hammering on the glass with her fists, "Jenny!" She cried. The Doctor held his screwdriver high up in front of him, using it as a torch. Jenny wasn't the only one being held suspended. The Doctor strode over to his left, taking the orb of light with him leaving Vastra in darkness. He pressed his hand sadly against the cool glass, Elsa's crystalline blue eyes were staring back at him. Vastra's upset, incoherent, Silurian language faded into the background as he circled Elsa's still body, his fingertips never left the glass. He put his round framed glasses on and leaned in closer still, so close that he fogged up the glass with his breath. He wiped it clean with his sleeve and then turned promptly back to the Silurian.

"Jenny is quite safe," he said calmly. Vastra hissed angrily at him, her tears took the Doctor by complete surprise, he'd never once met a species of Homoreptilia that cried, "No really," he tapped the glass encasing Elsa, "As long as they're behind this glass they can't be cancelled out"

"Ma'am?"

They turned round at the sound of the female voice. Jenny stood by the entrance to the large room, the Doctor removed his glasses and took a few slow careful steps in her direction, intently watching her every move.

"Jenny?" Vastra rushed towards her, she gripped the girls shoulders tightly, "Are you alright?"

"They tried to catch us and put us in those things," the maid pointed to her own identical form trapped behind the glass. Vastra followed the length of the girls arm down to her fingertips to see where she was pointing.

"Where is Commander Strax?" The reptile pulled Jenny into a tight hug.

"I don't know, we got separated when they tried to get us"

"How did you avoid capture for so long?" The Doctor tilted his head to one side.

"I've been hiding from them," Jenny replied as Vastra finally released her grip on her.

"This whole time?"

"Yes all this time. If I hadn't been hiding then I'd be in one of those by now"

In one sharp swoop Vastra thrust her sword straight into Jenny's mid region. The girl gasped and spluttered staring up wide eyed at her killer as she crumpled to the floor. The Doctor used his sonic to open up the glass case around the Jenny suspended inside, "How did you know?" He asked with a smirk as Vastra reclaimed her sword sharply.

"My Jenny doesn't know what a 'H' is let alone how to pronounce one in speech, and Jenny _always_ wears her ring," The Silurian approached her beloved human and took hold of her hand, "Always" She pulled her quickly out of the animation beam. Jenny instantly snapped out of her suspended state. She stared into the gloriously deep blue eyes of her wife.

"Well it's 'bout time you came for me," she saw the tears still streaking Vastra's cheeks, "I 'ope you weren't cryin' for me you daft ol' lizard" Vastra grinned as widely as she could ever remember doing so as she lifted her wife up in her arms as though she was as light as a feather and pressed her cool lips against those of her sweet Jenny.

"This is for you my love" Jenny looked down at the sword Vastra carefully laid down in her hands.

"O' ma'am you do know 'ow to make a girl feel special"

"So you tell me my dear," Vastra unsheathed a second blade and turned to the Doctor, "Should we free the others?"

He was stalking around the glass cases like a tiger on the prowl. Vastra's excellent night vision could see clearly the 3D glasses that he'd decided to wear again, "No they're safer in there. Until we work out which ones are ours and which ones are theirs. There seems to be a lot of matter floating around everywhere in here. It's going to be difficult to tell them apart" He took a few paces back to a case he had almost deemed empty, he looked down and saw Olaf, Elsa's faithful snowman staring out at his knees. He groaned disbelievingly, "Really?" His tone was one of dismay, "They brought an evil snowman with them?"

Jenny felt a shiver run through the whole of her body recalling the Christmas when the Doctor stayed with them, she shook it off quickly, "I 'ate snowman"

"Yeah but, Olaf is actually made out of snow. Queen Elsa built him. He's a friendly snowman, well, our Olaf is a friendly snowman, extremely friendly, I dread to think what the other one is like"

"Yea' well I ain't takin' any chances," Jenny removed her royal Arendelle uniform much to Vastra's surprise revealing her navy waistcoat and trousers underneath, "I think green looks better on you dear," she slid her sword into the holder on her belt.

"What happened to Strax?"

"I thought 'e might be in one of these things," Jenny waved her hand at the cases around them.

"He's not here," the Doctor said slowly letting his eyes dart around the room to double check, "Strax does live with you full time doesn't he?"

"Well, yes, and no. We allow him to venture north, quite regularly. To engage in sport. He can be gone for weeks at a time. He does get a little, carried away shall we say?"

"Ma'am, someone is comin'," Jenny whispered, she'd moved to peek out into the dark corridor outside.

The Doctor used his screwdriver to turn on the Tardis' cloaking system, it vanished from view in a rippling wave of pulsing energy, "Everyone hide," he whispered retreating into the shadows.

Vastra instinctively pulled Jenny close to her as they too retreated further into the darkness. They huddled at the base of one of the glass cases far away from the doorway, "Jenny I think we have a very serious problem on our hands," she whispered into the girls ear. Jenny however stared fixedly past Vastra, straight over the top of the Silurian's' prominent crests.

"I think I know wha' you mean ma'am"

Vastra turned to see what had drained the colour from Jenny's usually pink cheeks. The bow tie and floppy hair that greeted her vision was unmistakable. The Doctor's green eyes stared blankly back at her.

"Ma'am, what are we going to do now?" Jenny's voice shook uncontrollably.

"_Yes Vastra!_" the Doctor's voice echoed through the room, "_What are you going to do now?_"


	22. Chapter 22: The Last Stand

**Chapter 5: The last stand  
**

Strax stood at the Queen's side, she sat reading quietly on her throne. After a few moments she looked up at the Sontaran, "How do you know the Doctor?"

"The Doctor forced me to become a nurse to restore the honour of my clone batch," he replied simply. Elsa stared at the stocky, potato-like figure.

"You're a nurse?"

"Yes, weren't you listening boy? It's the biggest disgrace a Sontaran can face"

"The Doctor did that to you?"

"It was either that, or execution"

"So he did you a kindness"

"Madame. I honourably opted for execution, but the Doctor wouldn't hear of it" Much to Elsa's fascination the small nurse actually seemed to sulk over this. The entrance of Prince Eric broke off their short conversation, his eyes darted around the room. He paced angrily up and down, crouching low to look below the Queen's throne, even throwing back some of the drapes to check behind them.

"Have you lost something?" Elsa asked at last when curiosity overcame her.

"Where is it?" Eric snarled at Strax, "I know you took it"

"Took what sir?"

The livid Prince squared up to the Sontaran, "You know what"

"Sir, I assure you. I have no idea what you are talking about. I was recruited to work at this establishment, merely an hour ago"

"Yesterday," the Queen corrected, "You got the position yesterday evening" She frowned suspiciously at the nurse beside her.

"I did?" Strax screwed his face up in confusion.

"Don't you play dumb with me!" Eric screamed far too hysterically for Elsa's liking, "Where is it!?"

Strax wasn't normally observant being a war loving, no nonsense, all guns blazing, twelve year old Sontaran, but on this occasion, he noticed a small creature crawling up onto the shoulder of the irate Prince.

"Sir..." It continued its movement.

"It's Prince Eric to you, you filthy peasant!"

"Sir I really think that..."

"Are you deaf?! I just said...!" The small worm-like creature reached his neck and sank its teeth deep into his flesh. The Prince yelped as he dropped to the floor, his body shook as though he were having a rather violent seizure before his body went limp. Strax stared down at him and groaned, a long, exasperated, groan.

"What, in the name of Arendelle, is that?" Elsa climbed up onto the safety of her throne as the worm began to wriggle away from Eric's still form.

"Looks to be a memory worm. We keep one back at our dwellings in London. In fact it looks like the very same creature" Strax crouched to view the specimen, "Madame would you happen to have a large jar?"

Using the material of Elsa's cloak as a barrier the Sontaran managed to plop the writhing worm into the jar she had provided for him, "Excellent"

"Um, what's a memory worm?"

"A ravenous creature from the dawn of time," Strax replied grandly, "One touch of this vile specimen will lose you hours of your memory. A bite, may obliterate decades" Elsa looked down to the unconscious Eric.

"So, he's not dead?"

"Of course he isn't dead you stupid boy!" Strax also stared down at Eric, "Why, do you want him to be dead?" He pulled his blaster out.

"No!" Elsa pushed the gun down, "No, we'll see what the Doctor has to say. Do you think he used the worm on you? You couldn't remember that the Doctor sent you to work here, don't you think that's a little strange?"

"The Doctor sent me to work here?"

"Never mind, perhaps um, we should tie him up?"

"Excellent idea Madame"

With crazy Eric bound tightly the unlikely duo stood watching him, not really knowing what to do now that the threat had been dealt with, "Now what?"

"We wait for the Doctor I suppose," Elsa shrugged, "Any idea where he went?"

Before Strax could form an insult the entire room around them froze in a thick layer of ice, in the centre of the room the ice continued to thicken, it rose high and shaped itself into a perfect...

"Is that the Tardis?"

"Should I destroy it?" Strax drew his gun up.

"Come on," Elsa ran in the direction that the ice had come from. Tardis replicas formed in their path, leading them to goodness knows where. All the Queen knew was that if the Doctor was sending the ice, then things were not good.

* * *

The swift Silurian pressed a firm finger to her lips and circled the Doctor's glass prison, her intricate hearing still giving the room its full attention. She couldn't find the mechanism to open up the casing despite stalking around it twice. Jenny pushed her out of the way, she pointed her wife towards the darkness and turned to tackle the case herself. She unrolled her lock picking kit and selected the sturdiest pin she owned. She hoped it would survive her plan carefully lining it up against the glass. After a deep breath to calm herself she slammed the hilt of her sword against it. The glass cracked loudly, the lines from the point of impact spread rapidly in all directions. With the glass now weakened one last strike with the hilt of the sword caused the whole thing to shatter. Vastra quickly grabbed the Time Lord by the bow tie and dragged him down low to join them. His eyes shot open, free of his suspended animation,

"Oh no. You two. It's not Christmas again is it?" He groaned seeing their concerned faces over him.

"Now is not the time for pleasantries," the Silurian hissed at him.

"No," he breathed, "It's definitely not, can you taste that? In the air, tastes like anti-matter"

"You can taste it?"

"We used to play with anti-matter when I was a young Time Tot. I'd know that taste anywhere" he climbed up to his feet, "Now quiet" He'd just drawn his sonic screwdriver, when something cold and sharp suddenly came to rest on his neck.

"Prove yourself. What is the first rule?" Vastra hissed in his ear.

"Rule?" The blade pressed harder against him.

"I'm a liar, I'm a liar, I'm a liar, I'm a horrible liar, Vastra stop it, it's me," the Doctor whimpered, "I swear I'm me. I'm really me"

_"Liar, liaaaar! The Doctor is a liar!"  
_

The Doctor stared wide eyed at Vastra, "That sounded like me," he pointed at himself. Vastra glared at him in her very unimpressed way, "Oh, I see" He pulled the two women close into a small huddle, "Okay, don't engage with yourself, however tempting it may be," he grinned down at Jenny, "You might end up erased from time and space. And don't engage with someone bigger than you, because, well, that's just silly. Where's Strax?"

"We got separated when we got caught," Jenny whispered. The Doctor raised his screwdriver at her suspiciously. Vastra was quick to snatch it from his hand.

"I've dealt with that problem already Doctor," she indicated to the lifeless form identical to that of her lovely Jenny.

"How can we trust you then?" the Doctor turned now to the reptile.

"Doctor, I have not crossed realities I assure you," she handed back the sonic device, "There's not a speck of matter on me that doesn't belong here"

"There's only one way that I can confirm that…"

Vastra rolled her eyes, "Really? There's not another way?"

"Ma'am wha's 'e talkin' 'bout?" Jenny asked quizzically as the lizard rolled up her sleeve to reveal the scales of her forearm.

"I swear Doctor, if I didn't owe you countless debts I'd chop you into pieces this second"

The Doctor ignored her empty threat and pressed his tongue against the cool scales of her arm for a brief second, he paused, moving the taste around his mouth. Jenny watched with baited breath, she frowned as the Doctor screwed up his face and spat out on to the floor beside them. Vastra hissed at him and lowered her sleeve, "Satisfied?"

"Okay, you're definitely not one of them, ick," the Doctor wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve, "Can you hear that?"

"It sounds as though the containers are being released"

"We need to move quickly. Are you going to be alright?" The Doctor counted their small gang, pointing his finger at each of them, "We're probably going to be outnumbered. Did they bring Strax's counterpart into this world too?"

"I don't know Doctor, their particles are strewn all over our home, but Strax spends a lot of time away. They may not have known of his existence"

"Okay. Okay. So you've taken out Jenny, sorry Jenny, so that leaves me, you," he pointed at Vastra and counted on his other hand, "Elsa... What about Princess Anna and Kristoff?"

"Nah I don't think so, they said that Elsa told 'em to run while they could. They'd 'ave been 'unted down by now if they were needed"

"You've met them?"

"They're safe in the Tardis"

"You brought the Tardis?"

"Your other, you. Brought the Tardis," Vastra cocked her head one side, watching his reactions. He looked puzzled for a moment.

"And you didn't stop me?"

"Aren't you glad that I didn't? Anger is the shortest distance to a mistake, old friend. You should know me better than that by now"

"Well you killed Jenny quickly enough," the Doctor pointed out.

"Oh and there's a snowman!" Jenny recalled suddenly out loud. The Doctor looked up at her in surprise, "And the Queen's fiancé" At this the Doctor frowned deeply. Vastra braced herself for the Time Lord's fury, she could see the anger boiling up in him. He stood up tall, screwdriver at the ready.

"Be careful, and good luck," he said darkly raising the device high and causing the lights to burst into action. He could see the figures of the opposing gathering across the room, their former prisons obscured his vision. He had barely dodged around a handful of containers before he was greeted by the small figure of Olaf, "Olaf!" He greeted happily, the snowman leered back at him, "I haven't got time for you right now" The Doctor aimed his screwdriver at him, "By the way, snow, is so last season" With a single press of the anti-freeze setting the Doctor melted the minute threat into a puddle. He pocketed his screwdriver and continued on. Already the fierce meeting of enemies surged as the metallic clanging of swords broke the air. He rounded another case and was met by the Queen.

"Listen to me, you don't have to do this," he warned holding a hand out, "No one needs to die if you just leave now"

The Ice Queen grabbed his hand, and twisted it sharply, "Aahh," the Doctor cried out as she began to freeze him inch by inch, "No!" He yelled, "No!" It burned into him as it crept further and further up his arm, if it got to his hearts he was done for. The ice was just about to climb past his shoulder when something deep inside his ancient DNA recalled this phenomenon having happened before. The burning began to cease, replaced by a refreshing cool tingling feeling. As the Doctor gasped still fighting off the Queen's strength he noticed the small puffs of ice he was exhaling, "Uh, oh," his mouth began to curl into a smile much to his attackers confusion, "Isn't this, just, dreamy" With his free hand he reached up and grabbed her face, she screamed as ice began to spread from his palm. The Queen released him desperately trying to get rid of the ice he'd laid down on her skin.

With all the strength his possessed he aimed at the floor, everything, every surface began to freeze. As the ground beneath her changed Jenny slipped unexpectedly, landing hard on her back on the floor as Vastra's double took a swipe at her. She barely managed to get her blade up in time to block the assault, "Wha's 'appening?!" She called out over the sound of weapons clashing and sonics buzzing. She fought back fiercely against the sharp Silurian attacking her with relentless blows.

"I'm sending, a message!" the Doctor struggled against the Queen now trying to fight back with her powers.

Working the perimeter of the room Vastra was battling hard against the Time Lord's double. His sonic, now glowing red in the presence of the real Doctor, was doing an excellent job at deflecting her attacks. The Silurian was actually beginning to feel desperate, the man didn't seem to tire yet her muscles began to ache and scream under the force she was exerting. She took a chance, and turned rapidly, her tail, hidden until this moment, knocked the Time Lord's feet from under him. As quick as she was, he seemed to be just that little bit quicker. He grabbed her by the tail and brought her down to the floor with a crash. Vastra's sword skittered away across the ice. Her heart sank as it came to rest beyond her reach; she rolled onto her back. The Time Lord was on her instantly his hands gripped tightly around her throat. Vastra desperately tried to claw at his face, no matter how many blows and scratches marked his skin he refused to loosen his grip, Vastra choked, staring wide eyed up at the gritted teeth of her attacker, her vision began to dim, time was running out.

"No!" Jenny screamed seeing the life being strangled out of her wife. The Doctor turned to see what had caused such a heartfelt cry of protest. He could just about make out Vastra across the room writhing and weakening as the life was drained from her. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the Queen begin to lash out at him again. Unable to turn in time the Doctor simply winced and shut his eyes tightly, to his amazement, nothing happened. The sound of yelling and laser blasts forced him to open his eyes. The Queen who mere seconds ago had been about to attack him stood staring wide eyed at him, her hands clutching at the ice shard protruding from her chest. Crimson blood leaked from the implement. The Doctor looked down at his hands completely horrified, had he done that? He almost turned to where he thought the ice had been thrown from when Strax's yelling became clearer above the sound of firing.

"Die alien scum!"

He jerked his head to look back at Vastra, she was pushing herself backwards across the floor away from the threat that seemed to have released her. The Doctor took a few careful steps to get a better view. Strax stood behind Vastra, his gun still aimed at the not yet dead threat. A blast had ripped through the Time Lord's chest, the material of his shirt was singed and turning quickly to red. He looked down at the hole in him, completely confused before he croaked his last breath and slumped sideways against a glass tank. His eyes stared at Madame Vastra, wide eyed, she rubbed her throat over and over in shock, convinced that she had clear finger marks already bruising her scales. Jenny's huffing and puffing caught the Doctor's attention in the now silent room, the alternate reality Silurian had almost overpowered her. All that came between Jenny and the sharp blade inches from her face was her pure determination not to die in front of her wife. Vastra would kill her if she died. Jenny wasn't entirely sure how her lizard lover would survive the world without her after all this time. She gritted her teeth as she held the wild Silurian at bay, it was a bizarre experience, looking up into those deep blue eyes. Many an evening she'd spent gazing into them lovingly, now they glared wildly at her, hungry for her blood to be spilled. The other worldly lizard turned her head sharply at feeling a tapping on her shoulder, she was greeted by a hard fist to the face. She fell unconscious to the floor with a heavy thud. Jenny stared up at the Doctor rubbing his knuckles and shaking his hand, "Ouch," he grinned before pulling her to her feet.

"I think someone came to rescue you Doctor," the girl smiled knowingly. The Doctor turned to the doorway, Elsa stood horrified, frozen, by the bloody show that had taken place in her own dungeons. She looked traumatised, one glove lay inside out on the floor at her feet while her bare hand shook as she curled it to her chest.

"I, I had to," she said quietly, nodding towards the lifeless alternative version of herself lying on the ground. The Doctor strode the small distance between them and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"You saved my life," he told her quietly, "You did nothing wrong," he took her face in his hands and smiled warmly.

"You seem to have acquired winter magic again Doctor," she smirked watching his icy breath swirl into the air with each exhale.

"Fortunately the cure for this isn't an act of true love, quite the opposite in fact," he laughed, "It'll fade soon. I've got eleven lives worth of bad times to clear it from my system"

"I've missed you"

"I hear you're engaged"

"Not any more. He got a little, tied up" She leaned slowly in to the Doctor.

"Really?"

"Really" Elsa closed the final gap between them with a firm kiss; she gripped his hair tightly, refusing to release him no matter how much he squirmed.

"Ergh, kissing, what a ridiculous battle celebration, don't you agree?" Strax remarked turning to his Victorian companions, "Ick," he muttered seeing that they too were sharing a tender moment. A small white form came strolling into view.

"Hey I'm Olaf," the snowman greeted the Sontaran with open twiggy arms.

"I'm not kissing you, odd little ball thing"

"I like warm hugs"

The Sontaran paused for a moment, considering the creature still looking up at him with open arms. He groaned and rolled his eyes, "Alright fine, but I shall take great pleasure in obliterating you later in the glory of battle in the name of the Sontaran Empire"

Olaf looked blank for a brief moment, "Okay," he decided at last as Strax knelt down to hug him.

"Okay that's enough," Strax stood up as quickly as he'd got down.


	23. Chapter 23: Death is but a door

_Thank you for the comments that have been posted so far, it's always encouraging. It's been a while since the last chapter, had my end of year exams. So, chapters are going to come regularly again. ~Interface_

* * *

**Chapter 6: Death is but a door**

It took the Doctor an entire two days to locate the invisible Tardis in the dungeon room and move it up to Elsa's study. The door to the machine had been dead locked when the invisibility protocols had been activated, trapping the young couple inside. Thankfully Anna being Anna had taken it upon herself to roam through the Tardis and had managed to locate both the bedrooms and the kitchen. Hence the telling off that the Time Lord received wasn't nearly as severe as it could have been. Seemingly, being trapped inside a Tardis for two days was actually quite exciting. As she stepped out of the Tardis the sight of her sister caused tears to glisten in Anna's eyes, "Oh Elsa!" She cried as they embraced tightly. The Doctor watched the happy reunion with an enormous grin. He lived for these days, when everything came together. He looked across at his Victorian crime fighting friends and couldn't help how his grin grew even wider. His heart swelled with pride. There was Silurian whom had once stalked the London underground avenging her fallen sisters due to its extension. There was the young Victorian girl who had been rescued by Vastra from what would have been an exceedingly vicious gang attack. And finally Strax, who had learned to embrace the new status the Doctor had bestowed upon him.

"Are you okay Doctor?" The grin he wore unsettled Vastra, when the Doctor grinned like that it things often didn't end well.

"Just, brilliant," he sighed.

"This isn't over yet Doctor," Vastra warned the day dreaming Time Lord, "We still have two living hostages" The Doctor considered his lizard friend, always so focused, so disciplined; and nearly always right. Their captives had been handcuffed and occupied a corner each of the spacious study room. It came as no surprise to anyone that the Doctor had a seemingly endless supply of the restraints. Vastra had insisted that the Silurian be sedated, she knew better than anyone how wild her race could be, and an alternate version of herself would be especially eager to escape and cause havoc. The Doctor still had no idea yet what he was going to do with the surviving invaders, they'd interfered with _his_ world, _his_ Earth, _his_ friends – He couldn't allow it to go by unpunished. He gave Vastra a silent nod and retreated from the gathering and into his Tardis. As the door clicked shut he simply stood, staring at the floor, his eyes, just that little bit out of focus as his mind wandered. The last thing he remembered was being seized by the Judoon; beyond that was just, plain old fuzzy. In his daze he attempted to hang his jacket up on the hat stand, completely ignoring the fact that it instead fell to the floor. His mind was foggy – the Doctor's mind was never foggy. His shaking hands reached for the console, thankfully his fingers knew exactly what to do with the controls, this reduced the effort required to scan himself. The Gallifreyan language became blurred and distorted on the monitor; he tried to pull it closer but found himself falling helplessly onto the console panel. He felt the hard impact of the Tardis floor before he surcame to the darkness creeping into his vision.

* * *

The Doctor's long absence was beginning to strike concern into the cool and calm Madame Vastra, "Jenny dear, perhaps it would be prudent to check on the Doctor," Jenny's eyes flickered over the bound Silurian on the floor. Vastra instantly sensed the girl's reluctance to leave her alone with a threat that could obliterate her from time and space, "It's quite alright my love, the situation is under control," she tapped the hilt of her katana with a smirk. Before approaching the Tardis Jenny couldn't help but double check with a glance that the restraints were secure enough. She wasn't entirely satisfied but Vastra was quite a capable warrior, and incredibly stubborn. When she entered the Tardis she moved slowly, so as not to startle the Time Lord. The console room looked completely devoid of life, she'd never really known the Doctor to venture further than the entrance of his Time Machine. It was a well-known fact that the Doctor loved to tinker with the intricate mechanisms beneath the console, she could only assume that he was on a lower level.

"Doctor?" She took a few careful steps further inside, a hand instinctively resting on the hilt of her sword. As she drew nearer to the console she could see a pair of legs laying on the floor, she recognised the worn boots instantly, "Doctor!" The Time Lord was completely unconscious, Jenny rushed to the doors, "Ma'am! It's the Doctor! 'e's unconscious!"

"Strax, with me," Vastra commanded rushing into the Tardis. The two sisters pursued, leaving Kristoff and Olaf alone to watch over the bound Silurian and Prince. They watched on helplessly as Strax knelt down over the Time Lord, in his hand he held a small device which he was tapping at quickly. Elsa couldn't contain her worry,

"What's happened to him?"

"Well if I knew that, then I wouldn't need this highly advanced technology, would I?" Strax snapped at the concerned blonde. Vastra managed to catch his eye and glared angrily at him, he could be so brutally insensitive sometimes, "Just try not to worry," he added begrudgingly.

"Ma'am e's soaking wet" Jenny touched the wet material of the Doctor's shirt and looked quizzically across to the nurse.

"It's called a cold sweat, _boy_"

The Arendelle sisters shared their worried looks with one another. Each of them owed the Doctor their lives. Elsa felt completely useless as the Doctor's friends worked hard to help the fallen Time Lord when all she could do was look on. It must have shown on her face as the green woman addressed her almost as soon as the thought had crossed her mind, "The Doctor is from a complicated race of people, no human technology would be sufficient enough to help him, Strax is the best chance he's got right now"

"Is he going to die?" All eyes turned immediately to Elsa, the only one brave enough to voice the question across everyone's lips. Almost as quickly all eyes looked to Strax.

"I shouldn't think so Madame. His vital signs are excellent, seems only to be a disruption within the brain" As he casually pressed a few more buttons the Doctor's eyes opened, he looked groggily up at the crowd over him. Before anyone could protest at his movements he lifted up his sonic screwdriver, sending weak pulses to the console.

"I'm okay," he breathed as the sister's helped him to his feet. He ignored Vastra's concerned stare and gripped the monitor rail, with more success this time, "See there," he pointed amongst the swirling Gallifreyan on screen, "Someone has been inside my head," he tapped his temple with the tip of his screwdriver, "Very dangerous to poke about in someone's mind. Especially mine. I need," he paused to catch his breath, "I need to see my body" Strax reached to snatch the Doctor's tie off, "Not _this_ body," the Doctor protested defending his beloved bow tie, he straightened it, "The other me"

* * *

Leaving the women to guard the hostages Strax and the Doctor approached the almost obliterated body of the Time Lord, "Well I must say Strax, you definitely shoot to kill buddy," the Doctor patted the Sontaran's shoulder firmly before crouching in front of the body of his alternate self, "Ick," His hands, though unwilling at first, began to search the blood soaked clothing, he found nothing of interest, "Want a sonic screwdriver Strax?" he uncurled the device from the stiff fingers and tossed it to the nurse.

"Sir, permission to offer my opinion on the current situation?"

"Permission granted"

"Sir, we must burn these bodies once they are no longer of use to us"

"And I'm sure I can trust you to handle that then?"

"Yes sir"

The Doctor smiled and rolled his eyes turning back to the body beside him. It had been two days, thanks to his borrowed magic the room remained like a big ice cooler, perfectly preserving the bodies, "Strax, do you think you could tell Vastra that I need her?"

It only took a moment before the Silurian was crouched beside the Doctor, "I need information," he continued to look into the open eyes of the body before him.

"You're hardly going to get answers from him Doctor"

"Well, not the way he is now," Vastra looked down to where the Doctor was rubbing his hands together generating a warm golden glow.

"Is that wise?"

"I wouldn't have asked for you if it was," he offered her a weak smile and turned back to continue creating regeneration energy.

"It seems like a waste of energy when we have two live hostages to interrogate. Isn't regeneration energy hard to come by being the last of your kind?" The Doctor looked sheepishly up at the Silurian, he nodded pointedly at the body before him, "I never had you down as a thief before Doctor"

"He's already dead, I'm just, tapping into the resource, plus I need to know what they've done to me. He's me. He'll know"

"What if he steals yours instead and regenerates?"

"Vastra, don't be silly, that won't happen," the Doctor smiled knowingly, "That's why you're here"

The Silurian hissed at the mad man she'd known since she'd begun her new existence above ground and withdrew her katana, "I think one of these days you'll owe me a debt Doctor"

"You bet I will," he outstretched his hand towards the cold neck of the dead Time Lord.

"Doctor, wait. You'll be erased from the universe"

"He's already been erased, he's dead," The Doctor's fingers closed around one side of the Time Lord's neck and held him firmly at arm's length. The lifeless green eyes moved and blinked at the Doctor, "Don't try anything stupid, this is only temporary"

"… But I died"

"Death is but a door, but don't worry, I'm holding it open for you. I need to know what happened to me; and I know that you know"

The Time Lord struggled to breathe due to his damaged binary vascular system, "We're too different. The cover was never going to be convincing unless I behaved exactly like you, I required your memories, mannerisms. Everything possible to fool the Doctor's friends," he coughed and spluttered, "But the Doctor's friends are clever," his eyes flickered to Vastra, "They, they know you better than you know yourself"

"My friends have always been the best of me," the Doctor stared firmly into his dying eyes.

"How long have I got?"

The Doctor ignored the question, he was already siphoning regeneration energy through their connection, the lives that he'd now never live, "Why did you come through to this reality?"

The maniacal laughing he got in response to this irritated the Doctor, he looked up to Vastra who let out an impatient hiss. He shook his head at her, took out his screwdriver and aimed it at the gaping hole in the hysterical Time Lord's chest. The screaming, was almost enough to chill even Vastra's cool blood, "Sorry," the Doctor smiled pocketing the device swiftly, "I couldn't quite understand what you said. Shall we try once more? Why did you come through?"

The gasping body spat at the floor, "Because we could, more would have followed but the timeline was restored"

"What timeline? What are you talking about? Tell me"

"The Doctor doesn't know. Aw, shame. You really want to know? Come closer"

Vastra shifted her weight anxiously as the Doctor leaned closer to hear answers that she feared were nothing more than a trick. Her fears were not unfounded as a bloodied hand attempted to grab at the Doctor, golden energy began to errupt between them as the defeated Time Lord attempted to steal back all the Doctor had managed to take. There wasn't enough space between them for her to use her katana. Instead she used her swift venomous tongue to poison his systems, rendering restoration by regeneration energy no longer possible. The Doctor fell back out of the way of the now very dead corpse, "Still got it Vastra," he complimented clambering to his feet.

"What did he mean? I was under the impression that the Shadow Proclamation closed the rupture"

The Doctor bit his lip, "Maybe they never knew of it at all," they walked in silence back to join their gathering upstairs, "The last thing I can remember is being taken by the Judoon, and then nothing. Maybe, maybe we've been naive. The Judoon could easily have been theirs," they re-entered the study, "But I don't remember. Why can't I remember?"

Elsa's ears pricked up as she overheard his conversation, she instinctively grabbed the jar containing the memory worm off her desk, "Maybe they used this on you?" The Doctor's eyes widened as he received the jar from her. Vastra took it from him, passing it on to Jenny who stared open mouthed at the creature that she had been certain was locked away in a cupboard in their home on Paternoster Row.

The Doctor beamed down at the Queen, "Clever clogs" She grinned widely back up at him.

"Miss me?"

Taking her face in his hands he planted a firm kiss on her forehead, "Yes, lots"


	24. Chapter 24: Breaking down walls

**Chapter 24: Breaking down walls**

"What a disgrace, tolerating the apes"

The Doctor turned around happily at hearing the disgruntled voice, "Ah, nice of you to join us, however, I think you'll find that I'm a Time Lord," he crossed his hearts with his fingers, "Sorry to disappoint you," The hiss he received made him chuckle, "Oh stop it, we all know you've nowhere to run and no one to lead you even if you could run"

The Silurian snapped her head in the direction of Eric, she could hear him babbling nonsense to himself and looking around as though he were terrified of his surroundings, "What have you done?"

"Me? Nothing, nothing at all, he had one nasty experience with one of these though," the Doctor held up the jar with the memory worm inside. The Silurian shot her tongue out at the Time Lord, so quickly that he didn't even have time to flinch. All he saw was the tip of a venomous tongue shooting at him and a blacked gloved hand snatch out in front of his face. He was shocked to see that it was Jenny, holding tightly onto the enraged Silurian's tongue. He stared at her, wanting to ask 'how?' yet his mouth couldn't quite form the words to do so.

"I 'ad lessons from the best," she told him simply. They both turned to look at Vastra who visibly darkened through several shades of green, "Very demandin' she is," the girl turned back to the matter at hand, "Now then, keep this," she relinquished the fleshy tongue back to its owner, "In your mouth, savvy?"

"Okay, now that we understand each other I'll tell you what's going to happen," the Doctor held onto the jar full of memory worm tightly, "You're going to tell me what timeline has been restored, which has inevitably trapped you here, and then I'll let you go in peace," He didn't immediately receive a response, merely a glare radiating complete hatred and pure stubborness, this creature was more like their Vastra than he'd first realised. All eyes watched the Silurian, no one dared to breathe. You could have heard a pin drop.

"And if I refuse to co-operate?" she hissed.

"I'll let this little beasty have a go at you and then I'll put you into hibernation beneath the Earth's crust," he began to unscrew the jar lid carefully, "It'll be a millennia before you're released. Trust me, I was there"

The sharp blue eyes watched the bumbling shell of her former leader. Deep down she knew that this Time Lord would never let her go free, she'd heard many stories about the Time Lords of this world; no one was more feared than the Doctor, the bringer of darkness. Her fate was sealed whether she gave him information or not. Instead of addressing the Doctor she simply turned her gaze to the sunlight beaming in through the windows. Vastra watched her carefully, following her stare all the way to the window. "I think you have your answer Doctor," she uttered quietly. When the end was inevitable Silurian's would often retreat into thoughts that were precious to them, she could see in the captives eyes a last appreciation of the sunlight she would not see now for thousands of years, if the sun even survived long enough for her to see it again. Vastra turned her back as the Doctor completely removed the lid to the jar and approached the stubborn lizard. She could feel Jenny's hand on her shoulder, rubbing gently to offer some comfort. It wouldn't be easy watching herself be subject to the bite of the memory worm. Feeling Jenny close to her soothed her greatly.

"Doctor"

Elsa's voice cut through the thick silence. He paused and turned to her quizzically, "What?"

"What are you doing?"

He looked down at the jar in his hands, and the worm writhing inside, "What needs to be done"

"You're actually going to do this?" Elsa looked between the Time Lord and the lizard woman still staring into the sunlight, "You can't just take away who she is and lock her up like that, this isn't you Doctor" He paused and watched her carefully, his expression screwed in confusion.

"Elsa, now is not the time for this. She's a danger to this world. I'd throw her back if I could, but I can't. It's this or death, I can't actually allow her to go free, tell me you understand that?"

"Can't you see that what you do is worse than death?" The Queen pointed to Strax, "Turning a proud soldier into a nurse... Causing the sky to rain metal bodies over Arendelle, just because you could. Wanting to lock someone up for a millennia. Is this who you are?"

"I!" his temper seemed to flare beyond his control, "Am the only thing that comes between this planet and destruction. I am a Time Lord. The oncoming storm. This planet would have been overrun so many times before now if it weren't under _my_ protection!" he pointed at the Silurian still staring at the sky with fascination, "She, will kill every human she comes into contact with if I set her loose. Vastra, won't be able to sleep at night without worrying that this thing might turn up on her doorstep and erase her from time. Is that what you want?"

Elsa shook her head at him slowly, staring at him as if she had no idea who he was – which at this point, she didn't. Without another word or a backward glance, the Queen turned and stormed out of the room.

"Don't you, want to go after her?" Kristoff spoke up for the first time in the room which was now thick with hostility. Anna watched the door as it inched to a close.

"She'll be okay, some time to herself won't hurt her," the Princess turned to the Doctor, "She knows the cost of saving a world Doctor, she knows that this is who you are, and this is what you do. I just don't think she thought she'd ever have to see you do it"

The Doctor looked down to the bound Silurian, despite everything going on around her, she was still admiring the view.

"She can occupy my hibernation pod," Vastra turned back to face the inevitable, "No one need know that I ever left it" The Time Lord's eyes looked now to the Princess silently for approval.

"It's cruel, to take away a life's worth of memories, but kinder for the future. Dying would be worse, because, well, it just is isn't it? Dying is just worse"

"Sir, permission to speak"

The Doctor swallowed hard and blinked back the onset of a tear, "Yeah, Strax, what is it?"

"I'm twelve sir"

The Time Lord couldn't help the confusion that obscured his face, "I know that"

"Sontaran warriors don't have long, adventurous lives sir, I never thanked you for prolonging my existence, thank you sir"

The Doctor smiled and sniffed back the upset creeping up inside him, "I'm sorry," he spoke now solely to Vastra, he could see her watching the mirror of herself sat still in withdrawn thoughts. She looked over to him a hint of a smile across her scales.

"I would not have this any other way old friend," she held Jenny's hand tightly as the Doctor carried out the deed.

* * *

The Doctor sat under the Tardis console in his trusty swing seat. He rocked himself backwards on forwards, his feet planted firmly on the floor. He'd secured Vastra's double into her hibernation pod and had returned to Arendelle once again. He didn't really know now what he was going to do next. He needed to understand, he hated not knowing what the restored timeline could possibly be. He also had thoughts of the Queen spinning though his mind, he'd been saving worlds for so long, he'd forgotten to step back and look at himself. How must he appear to someone unused to his extraordinary life? The Doctor didn't kill, that's not why he chose his name. His name was his promise, never to be cruel or cowardly, never to give up, and never to give in. Were his punishments cruel? Or was the kindness merely in not killing? He shrugged to himself and thought of Anna's words, 'dying is just worse' – he hoped it was, then he may be forgiven his methods of punishment. He heard the Tardis door open and slowly click shut, slow footsteps strode across the floor over his head. He didn't bother to move, he was too stuck in his mind to. It wasn't until he noticed that the figure coming down the steps to join him was Elsa did he stir slightly.

"Hey," she said tentatively pausing by the base of the stairs, "I wanted to apologise, I..."

"Don't apologise," the Doctor smiled weakly and tried to return to his thoughts as politely as possible.

"I knew that you did these things, but I never pictured you, actually you, doing them," she took a few careful steps towards him.

"Well then, hello," He opened his arms wide, "This is me"

His demeanour took Elsa by surprise, she had hoped to apologise and for the whole incident to be forgotten about. That didn't seem to be how the situation was going to go. He barely offered her a glace, choosing to continue swinging slowly in his makeshift seat.

He really did want to have the long needed talk with her, he truly did; but the Doctor's mind was already too far gone down the tracks of thought to go back. He could feel her eyes burning into him, it made the hairs stand up on the back of his neck. He didn't blame her for trying to save him from a tough decision, he didn't blame her for showing compassion for a creature that had attacked them. She was only human after all. Many of his companions had questioned his morality in previous lives, none more so than Donna, wonderful Donna, crazy office temp Donna. Elsa's confrontation was merely a small drop in the ocean compared to those protests he'd faced. A tiny distant noise caught his attention, his head jerked up, taking Elsa by complete surprise. The console was signalling out. He rushed past her and up to the console level.

"Doctor?" she pursued him quickly. He was stood staring at the monitor. It was going crazy with swirling circular patterns, he seemed to be reading it yet to Elsa it simply looked like a moving picture.

"Oh, you beauty," he murmured at the screen, "You clever girl, I knew you wouldn't let me down" He kissed the monitor fondly, beaming at it proudly.

"Doctor, are you okay?"

He turned sharply to her, a crazy, happy, madness tinted his green eyes, "Am I okay?" He picked up the pocket watch that was sat snugly on the console and slid it into his pocket, "I am more than okay," he stepped up to her, "I'm brilliant"

"And modest too," she noted with a smile, "Are we good? Doctor?"

He stroked her hair, tucking a stray blonde wisp behind her ear, "Were we ever not?"

"I didn't mean to…"

The Doctor silenced her with a kiss, he didn't need to hear another word of her needless apologising. "Now then," he smiled as they parted, "That's better"

"You've figured it out haven't you? The, the timeline thing"

"Yeah, think so," he whispered continuing to play with stray strands of her hair.

She knew the Doctor enough at this moment to know that he wouldn't divulge his findings just yet, "Are you going to do anything about it?"

"Right now? No" She watched his lips as he spoke, and saw for the first time how he was looking at her. The weight he carried around with him seemed to lift, his eyes twinkled at her without burden.

"What are you going to do now then?" She inhaled sharply as he kissed the nape of her neck.

"I… couldn't… possibly… tell you my… highly secret… plans," he murmured between lacing her with soft kisses. Her heart raced, each kiss burned her soft, pale skin. This mad man, with his wonderful Time Machine, somehow had melted her like snow in summer. She held him firmly at arm's length putting a halt to the soft kisses that were making her feel quite light headed and faint.

"Don't tell me then," she breathed, "Show me"


	25. Chapter 25: Breakfast in Arendelle

**Chapter 25: Breakfast in Arendelle**

Madame Vastra sat at the long dining table currently being used for breakfast, she flicked casually through the newspaper. It confused her the lack of any crime being reported on. Were they too afraid to talk about it? Did crime happen at all here? She suddenly realised how bored she'd become if they ever decided to move to the crimeless Kingdom of Arendelle. She wrinkled her nose at the thought, the criminals roaming the streets of London satiated her Silurian dietary needs. It was an ideal place; and with that she pushed the thought of moving out of her mind completely. As she flicked the next page over an absolutely horrendous whistling sound interrupted the calm bestowed on the breakfast table. Vastra's sharp blue eyes looked up to Jenny sat opposite her, a slice of toast half raised to her mouth. She nodded quickly towards the door before biting down attempting very badly to look as though she hadn't noticed the Time Lord's horrifically out of tune entrance. The pair watched him whistle his way down the whole length of the table picking up bits and pieces from the spread and piling them high onto a plate he'd scooped up on his way. Vastra winced at his appalling attempt at a tune, she was completely grateful that after picking up the entire jug of orange juice, he whistled his way back out of the room. As their eyes met again Jenny raised her eyebrows with a knowing grin and continued to finish off her slice of toast.

"What's gotten into him?" Strax piped up from behind the stack of food almost hiding him.

"I don't think you want to know Strax," Vastra replied licking the tip of her finger and turning another page over.

Jenny giggled at Strax's indignant frown at not being let in on the humour. The girl reached for the remaining jug of orange juice before the Doctor returned to retrieve that too, "I'll tell you later," she promised the puzzled Sontaran. Over the top of Vastra's newspaper she could see the woman's mouth curl into a smirk; it would be a conversation well worth listening in on.

"Hey!" the voice startled Vastra. The women both looked to the Princess who had thrown herself into the seat beside the Silurian.

"Mornin'," Jenny greeted her nudging the juice back into the centre of the table. Anna beamed between the pair before remembering the reason why she had interrupted their quiet morning.

"I was wondering, have either of you seen my sister? Only, she's supposed to be, oh you know, running the Kingdom," she laughed nervously before lowering her voice and leaning in closer, "There are several annoyed Kings waiting for her in the throne room and I have no idea where she is"

The women glanced at each other before Jenny took point, "We 'aven't seen 'er, 'ave we darlin'?"

Vastra shook her head, "You may wish to check with the Doctor my dear" Jenny's eyes averted sharply down to her glass of orange juice, she tried desperately not to grin at Vastra's shameless act of ensuring that the pair were found out.

Anna stood quickly, "Why didn't I think of that?! Thank you, thank you so much. Bye!"

Jenny slyly looked up at Vastra, "You're becomin' a right mischievous ol' lizard" The Silurian smirked and returned to reading the paper.

* * *

Completely forgetting all her manners Anna barged straight into the Tardis. She froze at the sight. She was greeted by the Doctor and Elsa, sat at a table that she didn't remember seeing the last time she'd been in the Tardis. A pile of food was stacked on a single plate in the centre along with a jug of orange juice that looked suspiciously like the one she'd seen on the breakfast table a moment earlier. The Doctor sat back in his seat and grinned at her, he was fully dressed bar his usual tweed jacket, his braces hung loosely down each side of his chair. Elsa, sat opposite him was still wearing her nightgown. Anna stared open mouthed at her.

"It's not what it looks like," the Queen stood up quickly.

"Yes it is, it's exactly what it looks like," the Doctor smiled, he waved his arms at the spread, "It looks like breakfast, would you like to join us Anna?"

"I… Elsa, you have our neighbours in the throne room waiting to speak with you about trade. Remember? That's today, like, right now" The Queen's eyes widened in horror, how could she have forgotten?

"Stall them, I'll be there soon"

The Doctor sat quietly with a smile across his lips as both sisters dashed out of his Tardis.

* * *

"Not funny"

Interruptions seemed to be becoming a regular occurrence that morning for the Victorian women, the Doctor slid into the seat beside Vastra, "I'm sure I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about Doctor," she replied folding the paper and setting it down on the table. He patted the table top with an unidentifiable rhythm as he looked around, Jenny's guilty expression as she busied herself with stacking the dishes around her made him grin.

"Well then," he turned to the Silurian already watching him carefully, "We have a matter to deal with," the raised eyebrows he received urged him to continue, "I've figured out what happened, sort of, nearly, I'm going to have to do some digging to get confirmation though," he beckoned the gang into a small huddle across the table, "Best to keep it between the four of us eh?"

* * *

"I hope that this is all some extravagant hoax Doctor"

He looked at the Silurian, the disappointment slowly washed over his face, "Well no, I mean," he looked to the data on the monitor, "The readings are there"

"It's ridiculous. You have no real evidence," Vastra ignored the Doctor's childish pointing at the monitor full of readings. In her world, anomalies on screens were not hard evidence, nor were they considered the basis for a full blown investigation.

"Ma'am, sorry, but I don't understand"

"The Doctor caused the opening between worlds by changing a fixed point, the intruders taking the form of the Queen's parents have died at sea. The universe my dear, couldn't distinguish between them, assuming that time had corrected itself causing the rift to become sealed," the Doctor nodded along happily with Vastra's simplified explanation, "That does not explain though Doctor why there are signals from these people coming from inside the void space"

"Well that's why I need to go and see for myself. I need to see which ones survived, in theory it could be either. If they're from our world then I can save them, I can bring them back through"

"But they have to be from the opposing reality. What makes you think that the humans from our world could get into the void space so easily by themselves?"

Madame Vastra hissed at the Doctor as he tapped her nose knowingly, "I don't think they did get in there by themselves. I think, they were thrown in"

Jenny looked at Strax and then shook her head, "Sorry Doctor, but you've lost me. You're sayin' tha' 'ighly advanced versions of the Queen's parents 'ave been daft enough to die at sea?"

"Yes and in the process caused a fixed point in our world to be repaired"

"An' you're sayin' tha' our versions are stuck between realities?"

"Yes!" the Doctor pointed eagerly at two readings on screen. He scrunched his nose at Vastra, why couldn't she follow things as well as her wife did?

"So it's a rescue mission!" Strax declared brandishing his blaster around, "Sir, I suggest a full frontal attack with acid mines, high powered grenades and laser monkeys"

"That's the spirit Straxy boy!" the Doctor noogied the Sontaran playfully. Vastra's glare deflated the cheery moment and had him stood before her like a naughty child.

"No," she said flatly.

"What? Why?" the Doctor was visibly wounded by her refusal.

"Jenny and I will not be accompanying you on your foolish errand Doctor" The Time Lord was about to protest but Vastra wasn't finished, "You know what's out there, _old friend_. I will not put Jenny in such danger. Shame on you Doctor, you of all people should know better" The Silurian was shocked when her wife grabbed her arm firmly. Vastra's glare pierced Jenny almost as sharply as she assumed Vastra's sword might have. The girl was taken aback but it was too late to back track now.

"Ma'am, if I may? These people 'ave been very kind to us. Lettin' us stay 'ere and lookin' after us. If there was ever a way to pay back their kindness, wouldn't this be it?"

Vastra's expression softened as she considered her darling Jenny. The Doctor watched the change in Vastra. He was amazed at how well Jenny could tame the wild Silurian, lulling her into calmness and reason, "The void space is a dangerous place my dear, far worse than anything in your darkest nightmares. It is not a place that you should ever find yourself"

"I'd go to get you back if you was bleedin' well trapped in there"

"Jenny…"

"You can do as you please Ma'am. But I'll be 'elpin' the Doctor an' I'll be returnin' to work Monday mornin' sharp"

Vastra looked to the Doctor's smug expression, he turned away when he saw her blue eyes staring at him. It seemed that on this occasion her hands were tied, she'd sworn to protect Jenny whatever the cost. Where Jenny went, she'd have to follow, however dangerous, whether she wanted to or not. She was highly annoyed with the girl and yet somehow the fact that Jenny had stood up to her like that made her heart race and feel love for her all over again, "We'll need to be able to protect ourselves," she sighed at last.

"I'll fetch the swords," Jenny declared happy to have brought Vastra around.

"She's got you," the Doctor smiled from plotting the flight path on the console. Vastra hissed irritably at him and stormed off to sit beneath console by herself; this was only going to end one way; and that was badly.


	26. Chapter 26: Void Space

_In response to some reviewers; I cannot answer queries directly unless they're asked from a FF account – To reiterate, I cannot respond to guests; neither can I answer your queries here within pre-chapter talk; the reason for this is simple; Spoilers. ~Interface_

* * *

**Chapter 26: Void space**

When Jenny Flint bounded happily back into the Tardis with their swords she was shocked to hear quite a heated argument in progress.

"… But they're only human!"

"My Jenny is human too! Doesn't your concern reach that far?!"

"But she's a Victorian Assassin!"

"Occupation isn't the point here!"

Exasperated, Jenny looked over to Strax who was stood polishing his blaster by the secondary control panel, "'ow long 'ave they been at it?" she asked.

"Since you left boy," Commander Strax very nearly looked sympathetically up at her before holding the excessively large gun up, "Which one should I obliterate first?"

Jenny let her face relax into a smile, "You daft thing" She winced again as the voices became even more aggressive, "I know where I'm shovin' this sword if she carries on" Strax watched in bemusement as the girl marched off to where the voices were radiating from. Vastra didn't notice Jenny appear beneath the console, it wasn't until her sword was being pressed firmly into her hand did she acknowledge the girl beside her, "Sorry 'bout 'er Doctor," Jenny looked straight into Vastra's eyes, "If you think tha' I'm so fragile an' 'elpless then maybe you need to go back under the ground an' find yourself a Silurian"

"Jenny, my love, that isn't what I…"

"Vastra I know as well as anyone 'ere tha' you're only tryin' to protect me; but this is wha' we do. Look at us, a Time Lord, a Silurian, a crazy Sontaran; and me. We protect folk, save 'em. You an' me, we catch the bad ones in London. We're ready for this, let's do this an' go 'ome, an' I promise I'll never pick up another sword again"

The Doctor watched the pair in pure fascination, it was incredible. What Jenny was doing had to be some kind of an art form, it had to be. No one, not even the Doctor, could calm a Silurian as wild as Madame Vastra. It had taken him hours upon hours of negotiating with the irritable reptile before he'd managed to convince her to stop killing tunnel diggers in the underground. He had the scars to prove it too.

"I swear," he offered his input, "We'll be in and out of there so fast, it'll be like we never went there at all"

Jenny looked up into Vastra's unconvinced expression and nodded at the woman eagerly.

"Jenny…," the Silurian groaned, "You're putting me in such a position here"

While they battled it out with pleading stares the Doctor pulled out his screwdriver and began to fiddle with the settings. He grinned widely and aimed up at the console through the floor. The Tardis shook violently as it began to fly its way towards the void space. Vastra hissed angrily and started towards him, but Jenny caught her firmly by the shoulders, "The best thing tha' ever 'appened to me, was throwin' myself into adventures with you," she told her, "When I'm with you, I'll always be safe, 'cause I can't bear the thought tha' you'd 'ave to live on without me"

The Doctor scrambled up the stairs to the console level, his footsteps skidding across the floor were barely audible over the roar of the engines. Sparks erupted around the couple below, the lighting flickered, the whole Tardis shook violently as it broke down the boundaries between worlds. They didn't usually share kisses without Vastra having prior warning due to her venomous tongue. At that moment Jenny didn't care, she broke all the rules of their relationship and pulled the bewildered Silurian into a passion laced show of affection. It wasn't until the Tardis became far too out of control for their liking that they parted.

"Woo!" the Doctor yelled flailing around the controls, "Yowzaa!" He pulled a few levers and engaged the stabilisers, it helped, but not by much, "We've crossed over! The Tardis doesn't like it, systems are shutting down, it's very bad!"

"Can we land?" Vastra was almost instantly at his side, stepping in time with his dancing around the controls.

"Almost certainly not!" he cried.

"I admire your optimism Doctor!" the Silurian patted his shoulder and moved swiftly to where she could hold onto a guard railing. She indicated to Jenny that she should do the same.

"Wha's 'appening?!"

"Emergency landing!" the Doctor stumbled back away from the controls struggling to maintain his balance, "Hold on tight! Whoaah! Geronimo!"

"But sir! Madame!" The Sontaran, having failed to secure himself to anything, sailed over their heads as the Tardis tumbled.

"Strax!" Jenny yelled grabbing for him unsuccessfully as he flew past her head.

"For goodness sake Strax!" Vastra hissed snatching for his ankle also unsuccessfully. The poor Sontaran came around about for a second time as the Time Machine jerked and shuddered.

"I've got you!" Jenny reached for him, his heavy weight dislodged her grip on the bar ripping her free of her security. They held hands tightly. Beside the Doctor, Strax's abandoned blaster collided with one of the control panels; the doors opened wide.

"Seriously guys!?" the Doctor groaned, he really needed to have that lever removed. He tossed the blaster over his head hoping it would keep out of the action now and tried desperately to reach for the small implement that would close the doors.

"Jenny!" Vastra's fingers just missed the girl's leg as the pair shot past her and towards the open entrance. Jenny saw the open doorway approaching behind Strax.

"Tell me boy, is it bad?" he asked quite calmly considering the situation.

Jenny stared wide eyed at him, and shook her head silently, "S'all under control," she lied. They jerked suddenly to a halt, she could feel a tight band gripping her ankle and squeezing. She looked down to see her feet, a pink fleshy tongue was curled around her ankle. Jenny smiled across at her resourceful wife; she closed her eyes and let out a huge sigh of relief. Her argument for them being here had almost flown straight out of the door; and her along with it. She cringed, Vastra was going to be a nightmare to live with after this.

"Boy"

"What now Strax?" the question had barely left her lips when she felt the gravity return instantaneously, "Oh no" They landed on the floor with a thud, "Ouch," the small assassin rolled onto her back rubbing her face desperately, the pain was almost too much for her.

"Everyone alright?" the Doctor called.

"Yeah," Jenny grumbled, "Jus' 'ad my face rearranged though"

"Yet still beautiful my dear" A cool hand dragged the mildly injured Victorian up from the floor. The Doctor rubbed their backs happily on his way to the doors.

"Close call there buddy," he play-punched the Sontaran nurse as he went by. The Doctor held his screwdriver up and looked back to his comrades, "Now then gang," he muttered darkly, "It's time"

* * *

As they stepped outside the intense heat hit them like the heat one would feel stepping out of an aircraft having landed in a hot climate. Had the ground not gone on for miles in every direction any of them may have been convinced that they were inside a volcano ready to erupt. The sky was ablaze, the upper atmosphere burned several shades of orange and red casting a warm glow on the time travellers. The floor was uneven and cracked, in some places it had completely given way, showing off terrifying drops into hot flowing lava below.

"God 'elp us," Jenny muttered curling her fingers tightly around the sword that she wasn't so sure would be enough to save her any more.

"Sorry," the Doctor, ahead by a few metres turned to them, "But God knows better than to come here," he turned back to vast chaos ahead of them, "We're on our own"

He cast his gaze in every direction possible, he wasn't sure what he'd expected to find here in the void space, but this wasn't how he'd expected it to look, "Vastra, what did your people know of the void space?" he closed his eyes to visualise her words when she spoke them.

"The Void Space is the gutter of the universe, an empty space where nothing and no one should ever find themselves"

"Tell me the empty bit again," he squeezed his eyes shut tighter, "Now, quickly," he demanded of the mildly irritated Silurian.

"… An empty space, where nothing and no one should ever find themselves"

"Empty space…" The Doctor finally opened his eyes to look at her, "Is this how you imagined it?" The Silurian for the first time, truly accepted what her eyes were seeing. This did not look like the void space as described to her by her people, this was not a place of complete nothingness. The roar of the streaming lava finally seemed to reach her hearing. Distant explosions were now clearly audible to her. She closed her eyes, following the Doctor's silent example; she could hear it, it was high pitched, it sounded in agony, as though something, some strange magnificent creature were dying a slow, painful, terrifying death.

"Can you hear it?" the Doctor sniffed back a tear. His green eyes were watery now with his growing emotion.

"Doctor, I must admit you are starting to unsettle me now, what is it?"

The Doctor knelt to the floor, his pressed his palm against the ground, took a handful of dirt and let it fall through his fingers, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he murmured. Jenny's hand quickly slipped into Vastra's; the mad man's mumblings were beginning to instil concern in her now too.

"Doctor, please explain. There's something here in a lot of pain and distress. We must find it, help it if that is still possible"

"Oh it's in distress alright. And pain, lots of pain, _so_ much pain," he looked up to the women, "But we can't save it now," tears streaked his cheeks, though he tried he couldn't sniff them back any longer.

"Where is it?"

"You're standing on it"

The two women looked slowly at one another and then turned their uncomfortable stares to the ground beneath their feet.

"Doctor," Vastra was gradually losing her cool even though she could see that the Doctor was incredibly upset, "What is it?"

"The Earth," he told her flatly, "It's their Earth, they tried to pull it through," he stroked the ground over and over, "They tried to pull it through dimensions, it's too big, look at it, it crashed here, Vastra it's in agony, it's dying"

Jenny had never felt such a gut wrenching nausea flood through her like the one that overcame her so suddenly at that moment. She squeezed Vastra's hand tightly. The Silurian returned the squeeze, if a little harder than she had intended to. She wondered how many Silurian's had been slumbering when the Earth had been forcibly removed from its orbit and dropped to its final resting place here in the void. She clenched her teeth together tightly, she would not cry. Her own civilisation were still safely slumbering in their own world, and despite this destruction her own counterpart had managed to escape the fate of the others, hibernating in her own hibernation pod.

"Sir," Strax's voice came from further behind the gathering.

"Not now Strax," Vastra snapped watching the Time Lord apologise over and over to the world that he had been unable to save. She actually found herself moved by his sorrow, by his deep and obvious heartfelt regret. At her side Jenny wiped away a tear that had escaped down her cheek. Vastra held her precious human close to her, Strax's voice broke through the air again.

"Madame, I really must insist"

The women turned begrudgingly to see what the Sontaran could possibly want. Vastra's heartbeat went into a full panic overdrive, panic that never actually managed to reach her tough exterior. She snatched the Doctor up to his feet with inhuman strength and speed. The Doctor was not accustomed to such rough handling, he straightened his bow tie indignantly and smoothed out his ruffled shirt before freezing at the sight of the creatures surrounding his Tardis. He snapped his screwdriver out, flicking it masterfully out to its full extension. He forced himself to stand protectively in front of his faithful gang. The next words to leave his mouth trembled with every syllable.

"Do, not, blink"


	27. Chapter 27: When hell froze over

**Chapter 27: When hell froze over**

"They're angels"

"They're Weeping Angels," the Doctor corrected, "Keep looking at them, they can't move if you're looking at them"

"Alien filth," Strax muttered wishing he still had hold of his faithful blaster. The Doctor crept towards the quantum locked species surrounding his precious Time Machine. Even more slowly he began to circle both them and the phone box.

"There's only the two of them," his statement only slightly relieved Madame Vastra, a hoard of Weeping Angels would have been impossible to escape. A horrible thought suddenly washed over the Time Lord. The colour visibly drained from his face; he swallowed hard, his eyes flickered between the two Angels. He could see the thought finally catch up with Vastra, her expression morphed into one of pure exasperation. He hadn't detected the lifeforms of the Queen's parents, he'd locked onto two rougue Weeping Angels. She could kill him, he'd endangered them all, for nothing.

"Ma'am," Jenny interrupted, "What's a Weepin' Angel?"

"Complete psychopaths that kill you nicely," the Doctor replied edging backwards to re-join the gang.

"There's a nice way to die?"

"If they touch you they send you back in time, and feed off the time energy. They literally let you live to death," The Doctor didn't dare look at the Silurian beside him. He could feel her terrifying glare burrowing into the back of his head. The problem they faced was that the angels were guarding the Tardis doors leaving no gap through which to squeeze, "We need to draw them away from the doors," he whispered.

"That would require us taking our eyes off them," Vastra hated this plan already. The Doctor, though he didn't want to, conceded that it was actually a fairly terrible plan.

"You're right, one blink is all it would take, and they'd be on us," He searched deep into the depths of his mind, but all he managed to pull out of his usually wonderful memory, was complete and utter nothing, "Well that's it then, shall we just, whistle a tune or something?" Vastra broke her line of vision with the Angels before them and stared now at the Time Lord.

"A tune?" Had he actually said that?

"Yes, a tune," he replied, "You really need to get your ears cleared out, oops, sorry"

Vastra ignored his small dig at her lack of ears and focused instead on his choice of pastime. Bizarrely, she thought back to all the times she'd used her one word test to tease out time wasters and liars. Instincts and word choices were incredibly telling things, "Doctor, you're trapped, you're either about to live to death or hell fire is about to rain down upon you. There's a solution to this problem, but you need to decide what that solution is," the Doctor opened his mouth to speak, Vastra sharply cut him off, "And do it in one word"

The Doctor didn't remove his gaze from the Angels, everything seemed just that little bit too hopeless. There was only one word that came to mind when things reached this point, it couldn't be anything else. This word had saved him so many times before, came to his aid when he'd needed it, given him hope in worlds where hope had once been lost. He cleared his throat; eyes still focused on their enemies.

"Song"

Vastra couldn't help but smile, it was the exact word she'd been told that she would hear. Her past conference calls with the dead Professor Song had finally paid off. This was it, this was the moment in which the information given to her could be used to help the Doctor. She pulled out a very familiar, very old, very worn, Tardis blue book. The pages of the ancient book were meticulously tabbed with an array of coloured strips of paper.

"What's that? What are you doing?" The Doctor's voice sounded angry.

"Control yourself, I've already had my instructions from the owner," Vastra turned the diary sideways straining to read the delicate scrawl on each of the tabs, each one held a word. A single word, meant to align with the answers the Doctor may give when faced with the one word test. Professor Song had always been fond of single word responses.

"You can't look in the book, you can't read it, you _mustn't_, read" The Time Lord's voice was growing desperate, the petite assassin didn't particularly like his rising hysteria, "Vastra, stop it," he strained to maintain eye contact with both Angels and watch the Silurian now selecting her chosen tabbed page. He jerked his hand out to snatch the diary, Jenny nimble and swift as ever forced her sword into his back.

"Keep watchin' them," she warned him.

"Please, listen to me Vastra. River's diary, it's the biggest, the most dangerous, collection of secrets in the universe. Secrets that must never be told, knowledge that must never be spoken"

"She said that you'd say that," Vastra ran her finger down the page, searching for the relevant paragraph "Doctor, you need to understand that there are people in this universe who will do more for you than just give their lives. People who will protect you beyond death," her blue eyes looked up to the back of the Time Lord's head, "You're dead wife is one of those people. She would never put you in danger, quite the opposite," Vastra moved to hold the diary up beside the Doctor's face, high enough for him to read the co-ordinates sketched onto the page, "This is not, River Song's diary, this is merely a handbook she and I devised together during our conference calls. The information within its pages does not contain the knowledge of which you speak, nor the secrets that you fear. I trust you know what to do with these?" She brought a finger up to point at the co-ordinates.

"Jenny I'm going to reach into my pocket okay, don't, chop me to pieces or anything" The Doctor pulled out the ever faithful, excessively over-repaired Vortex Manipulator, "Okay, I'll trust your manual, but only because of this," he pointed to the inside of the page where the tiniest scribble of Old High Gallifreyan was just visible. Vastra hadn't noticed it before, she leaned closer to have a better look.

"What does it say?" she asked as the Doctor began to input the data.

"Spoilers," he smiled before throwing the time travel device to the floor, "Let's hope that River hasn't lost her touch" He aimed his screwdriver at it and pressed down firmly, with a flash and sizzle the Vortex Manipulator vanished.

"Where did the setting lead to?" Vastra pushed Jenny's blade down releasing the Doctor from any chance of injury.

"No idea," he replied, "We'll find out soon I hope"

"You must know if those settings took it out of the void space or not"

"Well, they were Earth co-ordinates, so yes, I'm assuming that it has left the Void Space," The Silurian frowned, she couldn't quite understand how the Tardis had struggled so violently to land here, yet a tiny device was able to just, leave without issue, "It's like a motorbike though traffic," the Doctor explained seeing the thought struggle to compute. His ears suddenly pricked up; it sounded like crumbling rock, "Uh oh," he pointed at the Tardis, but more appropriately he pointed at the ground giving way beneath it.

* * *

Elsa had had the dullest afternoon of her entire life, she wondered if it was too late to pass the title of Queen onto her sister. She chuckled to herself thinking of Anna's naïve happy carelessness; maybe not. Out of sight of the visitors in her throne room she hugged herself tightly; her heart jumped just thinking of the Doctor. She'd been gone no more than an hour; yet somehow she missed him, a lot. The negotiations were not yet over, but she was intent on stealing a moment with him. She'd excused herself over and over as she'd backed out of the room, even two minutes with him would help focus her mind enough to go back.

Elsa hurried to the entrance hall where she'd left the Tardis. She froze when she reached the spot, the Tardis was gone. Confused she dashed into the room just off the entrance hall, the Tardis wasn't there either. Was she losing her mind? Perhaps the Tardis was standing proudly elsewhere in the castle and she'd just imagined that this was where it has stood. Still doubting her sanity she returned to the entrance.

"Elsa," Anna had caught up with her, "Are you alright?"

"Was the Tardis stood here earlier, Anna I think I'm going crazy

"He probably moved it," Anna turned on the spot, it wasn't unusual for a Time Machine to move.

"So it was definitely here before?"

"Yes! But Elsa you need to concentrate on Arendelle right now"

Elsa stared at the empty space the Tardis had left. She was just about ready to accept that maybe the Doctor had simply opted to take his friends home or run an errand while she was busy when an electrical crackling sound broke through the air. From a flash of thin air a wristband device launched itself at the Queen, with sharp reflexes that she had no idea she possessed she caught it, "Ouch," she cried, it was red hot, in her grip she cooled it instantly.

"What's that?" Anna's inquisitive nose almost touched the device in Elsa's hand. On the top a small singed note said "Wear me". Elsa immediately began to undo the strap, "You're not actually going to wear that thing are you?" Anna couldn't believe that the usually sensible Queen was following the directions of a sticky note.

"That's the Doctor's handwriting," Elsa replied tightening the strap, "Now what?" she pulled the case open, inside was a screen with swirling numbers and small images. Another small note met her eyes over a particularly worn button "Press me"

"Elsa, don't!" Anna protested but it was too late, in a flash and bang the Queen was gone.

* * *

"Woo!" that was the Doctor's voice, "Yowzaa!" Elsa found herself stood in a corridor just off from the console room, she could just about see the Doctor rushing around the console controls, "We've crossed over! The Tardis doesn't like it, systems are shutting down, it's very bad!"

"Can we land?" The green woman was there too, Elsa felt the Tardis begin to rumble beneath her feet.

"Almost certainly not!"

"I admire your optimism Doctor!" Elsa saw both women now, holding on tightly to the railings that surrounded the console unit.

"Wha's 'appening?!"

"Emergency landing!" the Doctor stumbled back away from the controls struggling to maintain his balance, "Hold on tight! Whoaah! Geronimo!" To Elsa's left a door seemed to appear out of nowhere. The Tardis was growing out of control, and without a second thought she rushed inside it, maybe she too could find something to secure herself to for the crash landing. Her heart sank as she entered the room which was completely empty. She turned to leave but the door had vanished, replaced with a solid metal bar. Elsa shrugged and grabbed onto it tightly, it was as good as anything. The Time Machine rocked and bucked more violently than she'd expected, her grip was loosened almost immediately. During a crazy spin and tumble the Queen's head smacked against the bar she was so desperately trying to cling to. The hit knocked her from consciousness, her already unstable grip on the bar released and she fell back into the room; and that was the last thing the Queen remembered.

* * *

When the slim blonde Queen finally stirred, all was silent. She awoke, to her complete surprise, on the floor of the console room. It was dark, except for the glow of the controls and central time rotor. Elsa rubbed her head, she could already feel the lump rising, "What a ride," she winced using her palm as a makeshift ice pack. She rose up and circled the controls, where was everyone? Almost as soon as the thought was created, it was as though the Tardis had instantly read her mind, the monitor turned on suddenly. Elsa watched the soundless display. It was the Doctor, and his friends, where were they? Were they in hell? Elsa squinted at the grainy picture, the green woman was holding up a blue book for the Doctor to read. Elsa couldn't help but gasp loudly, grabbing hold sharply of the large device she wore on her wrist. The Doctor was holding it in his hand; but how could that be? She looked down at it, it certainly looked the same. A flash on screen caught her eye, it took her a moment to realised what had occurred. The Doctor no longer held the wristband. It took a further few moments for Elsa to catch up with what exactly had happened, she gasped, "He sent for me," she looked around the massive console room, "But what do I do?" The lights of the Tardis flashed, the great machine seemed to chortle with its many beeps and buzzes. The screen seemed to change angle of shot and showed Elsa two statues stood outside the doors. With the way the group had been transfixed to the spot Elsa could only assume that these weren't just any old statues, and absolutely weren't friendly.; despite being Angels.

A warning buzzer began to chime suddenly throughout the Tardis, lights began to flash red dangerously. Elsa spun on the spot, what was happening? The ground beneath her feet felt suddenly unstable, she could barely stand up. She could see clearly the ground crumbling on the screen, she hoped that this was just some crazy illusion, but as the Tardis dropped suddenly her fears were confirmed. She had to get out.

Elsa rushed to the doors before the machine fell and rendered her unable to move. She reached the doors but it was too late, the Tardis was doomed, there was not a single piece of solid ground for the Queen to step out onto. She was just in time to see the angel like statues fall first. She could see them both clearly as they fell a few metres ahead of the Tardis. Elsa held on tightly to the doorframe, the hot breeze whistling past her was almost too much to bear. It wasn't until she saw the Angels perish in the lava hurtling towards her did she truly panic. She could think of nothing else to do but release her powers. The fear of dying deep within her caused the ice to blast violently from the Tardis doorway. The shear force caused the Tardis to flip onto its back. The hot fiery world was instantly consumed by ice and snow. With a hard thud the Time Machine landed in a puff of dust and ice. Elsa was thrown to floor, the internal gravity preventing her from falling back into the console.

"That man," she gasped, "Is going to be the death of me"


	28. Chapter 28: The End

**Chapter 28: The End**

The Paternoster gang peered quizzically over the edge of the newly formed hole. Vastra had driven the blade of her sword into the sheet of ice that now coated the ground; using it now to maintain her balance, "Okay," the Doctor scratched his head, "That was, unexpected" He took the 'manual' from Vastra making sure not to the turn the page over. He followed the passage of Old High Gallifreyan with his finger then handed the book back, "Completely unhelpful" The Silurian rolled her eyes at him.

"This isn't a guide of how to solve all of your problems Doctor, it's merely a, a get out of jail free card for use on these rare occasions," she tucked it away into her pocket and glanced down again to where the Tardis was just becoming visible as the powdery ice settled, "How do we get down there?" All eyes were upon the Doctor; but quite honestly he hadn't the faintest idea how he was to descend the cliff face. As visibility became clearer he could see now that the Tardis doors were facing upwards; both wide open.

"I could jump?" he suggested, "The, the internal gravity should still be online, it'll be like landing on a, well, like landing on a Tardis floor"

"The drop would kill you sir," Strax had been rather quiet during the whole episode, "Doesn't it have a remote control?"

"Well, yes," the Doctor withdrew his sonic screwdriver, "But we're too far away; really I need someone inside to fly it back up here" He turned to the Sontaran showing off every intricate detail of the device, "Alternatively, I'd need something to boost the signal, here look..." As he continued his long explanation Jenny couldn't keep her eyes off the fallen Tardis. The dust had almost completely settled now; and though the machine was tiny and far below them she was certain she could see movement inside. She tapped the Doctor's arm sharply.

"Doctor, look!"

The gang resumed their stance of peering down at the Time Machine, "Hello!?" the Doctor yelled. His voice echoed all around them.

"Doctor!?"

The Time Lord beamed around at his gang and pointed childishly down at the Time Machine, "There's someone in my Tardis," he grinned before his brain suddenly made the connection between that and the surrounding ice and snow, "But that, it can't be, that's Elsa!" he leaned far over the hole, "Elsa!" he yelled cupping his hands as he did, "What are you doing in there?!"

"You brought me here! You could've killed me!" An icy blast shot up past the Doctor's head.

"Yes and you're alive!" he cried dodging out of the way, "Don't be like that! Can you help us to get down to you?"

"I'm really not happy with you Doctor!" Her voice sounded so exasperated, the Doctor couldn't help but stifle a chuckle. He nudged Strax who joined in the laughing despite the humour going straight over his head.

"And you're alive did I mention?! Please just, conjure up a slide or something so I can get us all home!"

"A slide?" Vastra scoffed, "I've never heard of anything so ungraceful in all my life"

The Doctor rubbed his hands together and pulled his face, "Would you prefer a staircase? I'm pretty sure she can do a staircase…"

"A slide'll be fine," Jenny interrupted, "It'll be fun," she promised the sceptical Silurian. When Vastra didn't share in her enthusiasm she added, "We'll slide down together" The crackling of the forming slide reached their ears after a few moments. The Doctor grinned, pointing proudly at it and leaning out to have a better look.

"Ooh! It's like a helter-skelter," he clapped his hands together in excitement, "I might reprogramme one into the Tardis, lost the last one when the desktop got updated. Ha!" He turned to Commander Strax, "I'll race you Straxy. First to the bottom gets your gun," he shot at Strax with pretend finger pistols, blew them out and holstered them.

"A Sontaran never turns down a chance to crush the opposition," Strax beat a first sharply on his armoured chest, "Thank you for this opportunity, Sir, I accept your challenge," he confirmed. The women simply raised their eyebrows at one another, the testosterone was positively stifling. They returned their katanas to the safety of their sheaths while the Doctor counted down to his race with Strax.

"… Three, Two, One. Go!" The Doctor dove head first while Strax opted for the more sensible feet first approach, "Geronimo!" As they disappeared down the spiral of ice Jenny took Vastra's hand brought her to stand up on the top most part of the slide.

"Ready?" she asked the apprehensive lizard.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Vastra muttered under her breath. Jenny couldn't stop herself from bursting into laughter. The Silurian glared at her indignantly, "Is something amusing you?"

"You! You daft ol' lizard! You're tellin' me tha' in a million years you've never been down a slide?"

"Jenny I never said that I'd never been down a slide"

"You 'aven't been down one, 'cause if you 'ad you wouldn't be so bleedin' miserable," Jenny took a deep breath, she wasn't about the tell the Silurian how cold her rear was going to get sliding down a slide made completely of ice, "Okay, go!"

* * *

"YES!" the Doctor cried raising Strax's blaster high over his head in triumph, "Not fast enough Straxy boy!" The irritated Sontaran merely grunted something inaudible and threw himself into the console sofa. The Doctor grinned at the sulking Commander before a voice brought him back to reality.

"Doctor?" He turned on the spot, there she was, his saviour, his Elsa. He covered the short distance between them in an instant, letting the large gun clatter to the floor as he did. Scooping her up in his arms he buried his face in her neck, "Looks like you were in need of rescuing," she laughed.

"Yes," he pecked her cheek, "I definitely needed rescuing" With a hand on his cheek the Queen was inches away from luring him into a soft kiss on his lips when the Victorian couple came skidding through the Tardis entrance.

"Never again!" Vastra raged clambering to her feet hurriedly, leaving a bemused Jenny sat on the floor.

"It wasn't tha' cold," the petite cockney chuckled resting her elbows on her knees and grinning up at her aggravated wife. She loved her with every breath she took but the woman couldn't half be uptight sometimes. The Doctor looked back to Elsa, she was grinning away at the couple's tiff. She caught his eye; how long had he been watching her?

"Let's go home" The Doctor bounded up to the controls, as he flicked a few switches he realised that more systems had shut down than he'd originally thought. Flying the Tardis was going to be a nightmare. He side stepped to the next panel, the switches were also dead there too. He couldn't physically be at every panel at the same time, manually keeping the systems online. He scratched his head and stared down at the task before him that was usually so simple. He looked up, about to tell the group that it was futile, that they'd have to leave the Tardis and travel back by vortex manipulator. That's when the Doctor saw it for the first time. His gang, his friends. Their faces were all different but in heart and spirit they were just the same. As if time had suddenly caught up to him in this new body he managed to unlock and remember a portion of his previous incarnation's world. The Tardis had never been intended to be flown solo. It had never been assumed that one mad man alone would pilot the Time Machine. The Doctor beamed around at them. The grin of a mad man that told everyone who knew him that he had a plan, probably quite a terrible plan; and a plan that would almost certainly not work.

* * *

"Just keep that button pressed at all times, and hold this lever here," he guided Elsa's hand across the controls, "Hold it at this angle, don't let it drop" He sighed with satisfaction gazing around at his travelling companions each at their own control panel, each holding a flight system online. He'd given Strax the Tardis' shield to maintain as the Sontaran had requested to do something military related. The Doctor clapped his hands together gleefully bouncing over to take his place, "Okay gang," he flipped a few switches, the lights that flashed back at him confirmed that all flight systems were fully functioning, "Geronimo!" he cried pulling down hard on the dematerialisation lever.

* * *

"... And that, really, is totally all there is to it," Anna laughed nervously at the blank faces before her. Trying to explain her sister's absence had not gone down well, three of the esteemed guests had already threatened to cease trade unless the Queen returned at once. Stood silently beside her Kristoff swallowed hard, it had been a disaster the moment Anna had opened her mouth. He loved her to pieces but he could see clearly that she was not Queen material. He felt a harsh breeze suddenly hit his cheek, his hair began to ruffle wildly. The ice mason's eyes darted around the room, it was hitting the others too. All of a sudden the whirring of the Tardis began to fill the room. Anna breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh thank goodness," as the Tardis finished materialising Anna stretched her arm out towards the blue box, "I present to you, Queen Elsa of Arendelle" It was the Doctor however who emerged first.

"Not me," he grinned, "I'm the Doctor of, um, Doctor of Tardis" He moved through the stunned group wildly shaking their hands and grinning. He eventually fixed his bow tie and turned on the spot, "This is Queen Elsa, I'm sure you know that already," he pointed now to the Queen stepping out into the room, "And she's about to make you the trade offer of a lifetime so, I suggest you lot listen very carefully, now if you'll excuse me. Just got to move my box" The room watched, stunned, as he slipped back into his box and it began to fade out with its easily recognisable groaning whir. It could clearly be heard materialising elsewhere in the castle.

* * *

"Ouch!" the Doctor snatched his hand away from the control panel that carelessly exploded before him, "Not good," he moved to the next one but it too gave up and fizzled out in a hiss of black smoke.

"What's happening?" Vastra watched on as yet another control panel went down. The Time Lord hurried to the next and the next, each panel burning out before him.

"The trip was too much, the Tardis is damaged," he stroked the controls a look of genuine misery across his face. His head lowered, his eyes transfixed to the floor. His faithful machine was hurt; when she was hurting, he hurt too, "You'll have to take the Vortex Manipulator," he told the trio, "It'll get you home safely. Just keep it safe, and don't use it to sneak off to parties or anything else that I absolutely wouldn't do," he picked up the device from where Elsa had left it on the side control panel and handed it to Vastra.

"What about you Doctor?" The Silurian watched as his eyes washed over his broken home.

"I'll stay until I can get the Tardis repaired," he replied sadly. Vastra put a hand on his shoulder; forcing him to look her in the eye.

"Do not waste a day of your life here, old friend, it won't last forever you know" The Doctor followed Vastra's meaningful nod towards Jenny, understanding immediately the point she was making. He looked back at those sharp piercing blue eyes, "Life is short Doctor. Time isn't for watching on a clock, it's for living" The Time Lord watched Madame Vastra secure the vortex manipulator to her wrist, she gathered their swords and held an arm out.

"Come along Jenny, let's go home" Obediently the girl hooked her arm through Vastra's and offered a small grin and a wave to the Doctor.

"But Madam, what about me?" Vastra stared at the small Sontaran, gun held limply at his side. She grinned and offered him her other arm.

"You too Strax" Vastra's eyes turned back to the Doctor.

"I'll see you lot again I shouldn't wonder," he smiled.

"Where trouble follows you Doctor, so shall we" In a spark and flash the three vanished, back to their own place in time and space, leaving the Doctor alone with his thoughts. A break from running might not be so bad, he checked his bow tie quickly, ensuring that it was still there. As his fingers felt the soft material he smiled. After a last check of his appearance he was satisfied.

"Time to start living Doctor," he told himself as he strode from the Tardis. The door clicked shut behind him.

**The End**

* * *

**London, England, Many months later...**

_The couple almost fell out of the carriage laughing shamelessly loudly for that time of night. They staggered the short distance to the their home on Paternoster Row._

_"You," Jenny slurred tripping over the step into their home, "Are a bad ol' lizard. Tha' poor bloke couldn' run 'way fast enough" Vastra couldn't reply in her fit of silent laughter. The occasional hiss escaped her which only caused her wife laugh even more loudly._

_"Madam," Strax greeted the women in the hallway._

_"No' now Strax," Jenny giggled leaning back against the dining room door for support. The treacherous thing opened causing the maid to topple backwards into the room with a squeal. Her legs flailed in the entrance way. Tears streaked the Silurian's cheeks as she hissed even louder at Jenny's undignified exit. The girl too found herself overcome with the hilarity of the whole thing. Her legs wiggled as she giggled uncontrollably._

_"Madam, we have been invited to the wedding of the Doctor," Strax forced the open blue envelope into the Silurian's hands. She managed to control her laughter as she slid the invite out._

_"But we've just returned from the Doctor's wedding to Queen Elizabeth," she wiped away her tears with a chuckle. Strax looked down at the intoxicated Jenny still giggling on the floor, stuck in the doorway by her underskirts._

_"Indeed," he grumbled._

_"Oh Jenny," Vastra finally gained control of herself, "The Doctor is to be married in Arendelle"_

_"When's the weddin'?" Jenny's muffled voice asked from under the layers of material._

_"It was yesterday.."_

_The maid couldn't possibly attend a second after party in the same night, she thought for a long while before finally responding, "We'll go tomorrow"_

* * *

**Thank you for reading  
**


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